Detention
by BonitaBreezy
Summary: When Roxas gets detention one day after school, he doesn't realize just how much it will change his life. AU. AkuRoku
1. Just a Kiss

A/N: You know, I realized something just now. Getting a flame would be hilarious. Now, I'm not saying I want people to flame me, but if they did, I'd get to laugh at them. Just saying.

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 1

Detention. The word in and of itself creates different reactions amongst everyday people. For Roxas Leonhart, the word struck a sense of fear due to the unfamiliar. Roxas had never been in detention before. Not because he was a goody two shoes in particular, more for the fact that he never really did anything wrong, just because breaking rules had never really caught his fancy.

Due to his slightly lackadaisical view on life, he ended up walking into his global class three minutes late. That was how he ended up in the hall at school twenty minutes after the final bell rang. The door to the detention room left nothing to the imagination, due to the fact that 'Detention' was written on the door in thick black letters. He took a deep breath and reached for the door handle, pulling the door open as if expecting a lion to jump out and devour him as soon as the door was all the way open.

The room was completely empty but for one teacher sitting at the desk at the front of the room. His head was leaned back against the whiteboard, his big black boots propped up on the desk, a magazine about guns propped in front of his face. He hardly even acknowledged Roxas' presence, so the blonde just took a seat and waited for something to happen. The bell rang loudly over head, making Roxas jump slightly. A few seconds later the door flew open and smacked into the wall, revealing someone Roxas had often seen around school.

He was extremely tall and skinny, almost like he could turn sideways and slip into a different dimension. Long crimson hair spiked out from his head, hanging almost to his shoulders. The red framed his pale face brilliantly, bringing attention to his eyes. They were peculiar, as far as eyes went. Angled in such a way they could be called catlike, they were also a catlike green color, with deep, dark green ringing his pupil and filtering out to become a pale green as the color reached the white. Underneath those peculiar eyes rested small black diamond tattoos, looking almost out of place amongst the rest, yet so obviously at home he could have been born with them. He sported a lip ring and an eyebrow ring and also had a black plug in his left ear. It was an eclectic mix, and yet he wore it so well. Perhaps it was the fact that he was budding with so much confidence it could be called arrogance, or maybe it just worked in some strange way. Either way, Roxas couldn't deny the fact that he was extremely attractive.

He slammed the door shut behind him and grinned as if he'd just won the lottery rather then a one-way trip to detention.

"Hey there, Xiggy. How's the wife?" he greeted, his voice a tad bit higher then Roxas would have expected it to be. The teacher lowered his magazine, revealing long black hair streaked with gray, pulled into a low ponytail, a big scar on his cheek, and an eye patch. He was a wood shop teacher, so Roxas had never had him personally, but rumors flew around school about him. Some people were convinced that he was a spy from Russia, but Roxas wasn't buying that. The guy sounded like a doped up surfer, for God's sake.

"Nonexistent," Xigbar retorted, snapping his magazine shut. "All right, delinquent, take a seat." The redhead smirked and sat on top of a desk, bringing his legs around to rest on the seat of the chair. Xigbar picked up a sheet of paper and glanced at it.

"Right…so there are only two of you today. Okay, you're here, so I'm out. I'll be back at three thirty to let you out. Do whatever you want except committing felonies." With that he was out the door, locking it firmly behind him. Roxas was a bit confused. Wasn't the teacher supposed to stay there and make sure they suffered for their mistakes? Not that he was really complaining, but…it seemed odd.

Maybe detention wasn't as bad as all the horror stories said. He shrugged, reaching in his bag and pulling out his Global History homework, flipping through the packet with false interest. He meant no offense, but studying the Mongols was possibly the most boring thing in the world. He didn't really see the point considering he'd just forget everything he learned once they moved on to the next subject anyway. Still, he tried to focus, but that was kind of hard to do with the redhead sitting across the aisle talking on his cell phone rather loudly about cactuses.

Roxas almost let out a sigh of relief when the redhead cussed and informed his friend that his battery was dying. He tucked the phone into his pocket and let out a loud sigh. Roxas did his best to ignore him, focusing on the paper in front of him.

"You've got to be kidding, kid. You're seriously doing the homework?"

Roxas lifted his eyes from the page and scowled at him.

"I have a name, jackass," he snapped, leaving the other to laugh and hold up his hands defensively.

"God damn, kid. I don't know what your name is, so how could I possibly call you by it?"

"You could have the decency to ask," Roxas retorted, determined not to look at the redhead. After a few moments of silence he sighed and gave in. "All right…what's your name?"

"Roxas."

"Hello Roxas. I'm Axel. Axel Sinclair." He glanced up to see the redhead, Axel, had his hand out for a shake. Roxas dutifully shook the hand he was being offered and turned back to his homework. After a long moment of silence he sufficiently felt like a bastard. He could at least pretend to be interested in conversation.

"So…Axel. That's an…interesting name."

"Yeah…my brother's name is Reno. We were named that because our parents met at a Guns and Roses concert in Reno, Nevada."

"So…you're named after Axl Rose?"

"Yup."

Roxas let out a breath and returned to ignoring the redhead. It was a few minutes before he spoke again.

"Damn, you are impossible. Can't you see I'm trying to have a conversation…?"

"Why?" Roxas interrupted. Axel looked taken aback, his eyebrows rising in disbelief.

"…Why what?"

"Why are you talking to me? I'm basically ignored around here and I'm perfectly okay with that…"

Axel rolled his eyes and leaned back, studying him.

"I don't know why I want to talk to you, okay? Maybe because you're the only one here. If you're gonna be such a bitch about it, though, I just won't bother."

"Okay, fine. Don't then. No skin off my back."

They lapsed into another silence, in which Roxas tried to focus on Genghis Kahn and ended up thinking about Axel instead.

It was peculiar that Axel would want to speak to him, considering the entire community of Twilight Town ostracized him. Being the only gay kid in small, God fearing town would do that to you. All the guys were convinced he'd rape them if they didn't cover their asses and all the girls were disappointed to find out that he wasn't like the gay guys they saw on TV.

Roxas knew about people like Axel, and in all honesty, they annoyed him to no end. Guys like Axel were the ones whose parents were so rich that they didn't care what their kids did. As far as they were concerned, they could do whatever the hell they wanted and never be at fault. Axel was one of those guys that whined about how terrible their parents were as they drove around in their several thousand dollar cars looking for the best place to get high and drink and destroy their minds because they could afford to do nothing with their lives. One of the rich kids who thought they had it so rough because mommy wouldn't let them have the newest cell phone on the market or some shit like that. It made Roxas sick. They were all superficial and they didn't appreciate a thing. Axel made fun of Roxas for doing the homework, but that was the big thing. Axel could get into any college in the country if his daddy donated enough money. Roxas wouldn't go to college unless he could get a full-ride and every scholarship he could possibly apply for.

Roxas hadn't realized his fists tightening until the pen in his hand snapped in half, splattering ink all over his hands and the homework.

"Dammit!" he snarled, chucking the pen in the general direction of the garbage can, watching as it bounced off the side and rolled away, leaving a trail of ink in it's wake. He looked down at the page, but it was a lost cause. The ink had spread over more then half the page, leaving it illegible. He sighed and crumpled it into a ball, tossing it across the room and sinking it in the can easily.

"That was a pretty good shot. You ever think of trying out for the basketball team?" Axel spoke up, making yet another stab at conversation.

"I used to play," he admitted. "Back in middle school…but I stopped." He determinedly stared out the window, now without something on his desk to distract him.

"Why did you stop?"

Roxas let out a small groan. He'd been hoping Axel would take the hint and just shut up. He considered not answering and then decided to take the other route. He could probably shock the redhead into leaving him alone.

"I came out of the closet and all of a sudden I was an enemy in the locker room. Apparently being gay makes you a sexual deviant," he said bluntly.

Axel's eyes widened a bit and he seemed to have a moment of realization.

"So…when I came in and you were staring at me…were you checking me out?" he demanded, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Yup," Roxas answered honestly. Axel lit up his cigarette, inhaling thoughtfully. When he finally let out his breath, he held the pack out to Roxas.

"Want one?"

Roxas was, to say the least, completely shocked. He'd expected that to be the clincher, the thing that would make the redhead back off and avoid him like the plague. Instead, he just looked curious and thoughtful as he offered the pack. Never one to pass up a free smoke, Roxas nabbed one, pleased to see it was the same brand he used. Convenience at its highest. He let Axel light it for him before leaning back and doing his best to ignore the second presence in the room. Maybe that was rude, considering he'd given Roxas the cigarette in the first place, but he wasn't really in the mood to be civil at the moment.

Axel waited until they both finished their cigarettes until he spoke again.

"How did you know?"

Raising an eyebrow, Roxas made his way over to the window to dispose of the cigarette filter.

"Know what?" he asked as he hopped on top of his desk, sitting cross-legged, facing the redhead. He was feeling a little bit less tense now that the nicotine was in his system and, since he had nothing better to do, he figured he might as well indulge Axel in conversation.

"That you were gay."

Well. That was unexpected.

"Um…I don't know. I mean eventually it became kind of obvious. I'd find myself thinking about guys instead of girls. I was never really interested in girls, I guess. They were always just kind of…there. The other guys would talk about which girl they wanted to fuck and I…well, wouldn't think about girls, that was for sure." He trailed off, wondering why he was telling this to a complete and total stranger. Though, total stranger did look a little like someone had just informed him pigs did, in fact, fly.

"Oh," he said quietly. "Well…shit. I think I might be…gay."

Oh. So that's why he'd asked. Roxas stored this piece of information in the back of his mind for later use.

"Well, congratulations. Welcome to the family," he supplied dully.

"I don't really know…maybe you could help me?" Axel looked suddenly hopeful. "You know…see if I am or not?" Roxas rolled his eyes and snorted, leaning back on his hands.

"Please," he sighed in annoyance. "I'm not going to have sex with you just so you can sort out your sexuality crisis."

Axel's eyes widened once more and he shook his head quickly. "No…no way. No sex before the first date." He added this last part with a sly smirk, quickly recovering from his initial shock. "I just meant a kiss."

Roxas straightened up on his desk. A kiss was nothing. He could handle that, easy.

"Oh. That's all? Yeah, okay then. Sure." He expected Axel to balk and turn away, muttering about he'd just been joking and then spread the news the next day that the gay kid had hit on him. What he wasn't expecting, however, was for Axel to jump off his desk briskly, stride across the aisle and kiss him. But that was exactly what the redhead did.

---------------------

A/N: Yup. So, what do you think? I'm sort of interested in where this will end up going, because this is something different from anything I've ever written before. All right, well, you know what to do now. If you don't, I'll give you a hint. It starts with a 'R' and ends with 'eview'.


	2. Ghettoville

A/N: It has been brought to my attention that this story sounds vaguely familiar. I assure you, that is a complete coincidence. I don't condone ripping people off.

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 2

Axel's lips were softer then Roxas expected them to be, almost as if he used Chap Stick on a regular basis. He was a good kisser, too, his lips fitting and moving against Roxas' perfectly. As the kiss grew bolder, Roxas' hands bunching in Axel's shirt to keep him close and one of Axel's hands coming to bunch in his hair, their mouths opened and Axel's tongue moved into the blonde's mouth, stoking boldly and exploring the space as if he did it everyday. He tasted like a mix of Big Red gum and cigarettes, something that struck Roxas as odd and yet delicious. Hm…and it appeared that his tongue was also pierced. He didn't want the assault on his mouth to end, though eventually Axel pulled away to breathe. He looked confused and slightly shocked.

"So?" Roxas asked, admittedly dying of curiosity. Axel bit his lip ring, his eyes trained intently on Roxas.

"Well…I don't know. Maybe we should…"

"Dude, you just voluntarily kissed another guy. You're gay. Straight guys don't kiss other guys. It just doesn't happen," Roxas informed him impatiently.

"Oh."

Roxas hoped to God that he wouldn't have to guide Axel through the trauma of realizing he was gay, because he wasn't sure he had the energy to do so. Another shock came over him when Axel just shrugged.

"Well, I guess that's it then, isn't it?"

He couldn't possibly be serious. Didn't he know how hard it was to live in Twilight Town when you were different? Didn't he realize that his life would be complete hell from now on?

Axel let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair as he backed up to lean against his desk.

"I don't understand. I mean…I've dated girls before…my dad's the most homophobic prick on the planet. How…how could this have happened to me?"

Ah. There it was. The inevitable breakdown, just a little bit delayed.

"I've sort of been suspecting it for a while now…but I never actually thought I was…_gay_." His eyes widened a bit and his head snapped up so fast Roxas thought he might've broken his neck with the force. "Oh shit. My dad is going to kill me! I'm not even joking…he'll hang me in the backyard, vigilante style!"

Roxas rolled his eyes at the histrionic redhead. "Do you have to be so melodramatic? Just don't tell him, simple as that."

His eyes lit up for a moment before becoming worried again. "I don't want to hide who I am. I mean, I rather like being alive, but I don't want to live a lie…"

The blonde was growing impatient with the redhead's indecision and obvious lack of intelligence.

"It's not really that difficult of a concept," Roxas snapped. "Come out to your friends, or whoever the hell it is you want to tell, but don't say anything to your father."

Axel's grin returned full force. "You're so smart, Roxy."

"Roxy? My name is Roxas, dumbass."

"I know that! It's a nickname." Axel rolled his eyes as if the blonde was the stupidest being he'd ever set his eyes upon. "You're not very nice, Roxy. Did you know that?"

Before Roxas had a chance to retort, there was the sound of a key scraping in the lock and the door opened. Xigbar popped his head into the room.

"Go home," he barked before striding off down the hall. Roxas hopped off the desk, throwing his bag over his shoulder and starting off down the hallway at a quick walk.

"Hey! Hey Roxas, wait up a sec." He let out a deep breath and came to a stop.

"Make it quick, I've got to get home as fast as I can," he snapped, turning to look at the redhead loping down the hall toward him.

"Do you want a ride?" he asked. "I don't have anything better to do…and I figure that I owe you something for…ah, helping me out earlier."

Roxas thought about that for a second. Axel was offering a ride. He was late as it was and Leon was going to kick his ass for it. What, really, did he have to lose? His dignity, perhaps, but it was a small price to pay as compared to what Leon would do to him if he got home too late.

"Yeah, okay. Thanks."

The redhead led him out to his car; a big black truck that made Roxas shudder when he thought about how much money was probably put into it for gas in a week. Still, he didn't have to pay for the gas, so who was he to complain? He stepped up on the silver platform on the side and then pulled himself inside. The truck was big and comfortable on the inside, and when Axel started up the car, noise came screeching out of the speakers that made Roxas wince horribly.

"Ah. Sorry about that," the redhead said, hurriedly turning down the music. "My sister was nagging me this morning. It's easier to, you know, ignore her when I can't hear her screeches." Roxas nodded, feeling his heart beat slow back to its regular pace.

"You look kind of…familiar. Have I seen you around before?" he asked, his eyes flicking briefly from the road to look at Roxas before flicking back.

"You're in my English, global, sociology and chemistry classes. Also, I think we might have the same lunch period," Roxas reported dully.

"Wow, really? I wonder how I never noticed before?"

"I tend to fly under the radar," Roxas said. "No one wants to be caught dead talking to the gay kid."

"Things are gonna change around here real soon, Roxy, you'll see," Axel said confidently.

"Yeah? I think you're too damn arrogant for your own good. Turn left at the light. You think that you can just waltz in and announce you're gay and expect everyone to just accept it? Because they won't. People are gonna be giving you shit all the time, no matter what you do."

Axel drummed his fingertips against the steering wheel and let out a deep breath.

"You're pretty pessimistic, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

They were quiet for a good ten minutes, but for Roxas' directions, as they made their way through the bad side of town, affectionately known as "Ghettoville". Roxas had to agree with the assessment. More then half the houses in the area were condemned, but people lived there anyway. Everyone was dirt poor and Roxas had six crack houses within two blocks of his house. But it was home and it was all Roxas knew.

Axel looked confident enough on the outside, humming along with the radio and keeping his eyes on the road, but every once in a while he would shift in such a way that Roxas knew he was uncomfortable.

"So…uh…how old are you?" Roxas asked in attempts to distract him a little. He had some sympathy for the redhead. After all, Ghettoville did take some getting used to and it was likely that Axel had never actually driven through it before.

"I'll be nineteen next month," he answered, chewing on his lip ring, something that Roxas was beginning to realize was a nervous habit.

"Nineteen? Did you fail a grade or something?" he asked bluntly before realizing that it might be rude. Axel let out a barking laugh and shook his head.

"No. I took my senior year off the first time to go around Europe with my parents."

"Oh."

Yeah…so Roxas had struggled through his junior year and Axel had been touring Europe. Nice.

"Why, Roxy? Trying to find out if you're jailbait or not?" he grinned teasingly.

"Fuck you. I turned eighteen a month ago," he snapped. "I just missed the cutoff by three days, so I had to start school a year later.

"That sucks. So, you should have graduated last year then?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if its any consolation, I'm glad you didn't," Axel said with a grin. "Because then I would never have met you and I wouldn't be able to say that my first guy kiss was an adorable blonde with a short fuse."

Roxas let out a groan and stared out his window. He wasn't seriously gonna go around telling people that, was he?

"Turn right on this next street. It's the last house before the alleyway." Axel followed his directions, pulling to a stop in front of Roxas' house. It was a small, two bedroom one-story house. It was in serious need of a fresh coat of paint and the lawn was ugly and dead, much like the rest of the place. One of the windows was broken and had a plastic bag duct taped over it to keep the bugs and rain out.

"Uh…thanks," Roxas said quietly, opening his door and trying to ignore the way Axel stared with a dropped jaw. "Are you gonna be able to find your way back?"

"Um, yeah, I think I'll be okay," Axel said quickly, realizing that he was staring.

"Um…okay, then. Good luck with your friends and everything." He shouldered his backpack and slammed the door shut, walking up the crumbling walkway to his front door. He unlocked the door and slipped inside. He hadn't even gotten the door fully shut before he heard Axel gun it away from the house, probably regretting his Good Samaritan act.

Though the house was ugly and destroyed on the outside, the inside was pretty nice, considering the circumstances. Leon always made sure things were clean and nice. The living room consisted of a ratty pullout couch and a television that only worked some of the time. The kitchen and dining room were basically the same thing, just a small table pushed against one wall for them to eat off in the corner of the kitchen. The bathroom was down the hall, directly across from Roxas' room and it was a decent size, though the tiles in the floor were coming up and the shower curtain rod kept punching holes in the wall. Not to mention that the light was acting up and a lot of the time the only light they could get was half of a flickering bulb. Roxas shared one of the bedrooms with his younger brother Sora and the other the bedroom belonged to Sora's twin, Naminé. They were fourteen and had just started at the high school as freshmen in September. Leon slept on the couch at night.

Leon was Roxas' older brother, twenty-four years old and raising three kids all by himself. After their parents died, he'd taken them in. It was hard because their only income came from Leon and Roxas' part time job and most of that money ended up going to pay the rent, but they made it all right. They were all alive and together, so that was the best they could hope for.

Roxas gently shut the door behind him, but that Leon could hear anything if he put his mind to it.

"Roxas?" he called before the blonde had even taken three steps.

"Yeah," he answered, sliding his bag off his shoulder and making his way back to his bedroom. He threw his bag on his bed (mattress on the floor) and turned to look at his brother, who was glowering at him from the doorway.

"Where the hell have you been?" he hissed. "I have to be to work in twenty minutes. I was depending on you to be home so you could watch Sora and Naminé. I'll never make it in time now."

"I'm sorry, Leon. I got detention today…"

"Detention?" Leon interrupted. "What did you do, Roxas? Don't tell me you're going to start acting up now, I just can't handle it…"

"No. No, it was just a fluke, a one-time thing. I was late to class and my teacher is a douche…" he ignored Leon's glare. "Anyway, I got a ride home so I could get here faster, but I guess…"

Leon's eyebrows shot up. "Wait…you got a ride home? With who?" he asked.

"Uh…just this guy named Axel. He offered it to me, so I took it. It's not important…"

Leon looked a bit more relaxed now. "Well…it's good that you're making more friends. Sorry, Rox. Sometimes I forget that you're just a teenager." Roxas shrugged.

"It's no big deal, Leon. Hurry and leave, you'll be really late if you don't catch the next bus."

"Shit, you're right. I should be home somewhere around midnight, so don't do up the chain before you go to bed." Roxas waved a hand to show that he understood and Leon left. Roxas let out a low sigh and crossed the hall to Naminé's room. He knocked on the door, only hearing a quiet, "come in". He opened the door and peered in to find Naminé on the floor and Sora spread across her bed, both of them with textbooks in front of their faces.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" he asked them. Sora grinned up at him.

"Hi Roxas! It's going okay. I kind of hate biology class. It's terrible because we're supposed to learn about poly-something or others…"

"Polysaccharides," Naminé supplied.

"Yeah, those, and they suck because they're made up of, like, a billion different things and we're supposed to memorize chemical equations and it's awful." Roxas laughed, remembering his own biology days.

"Don't worry about it, Sora. The final exam is incredibly easy and, back in my day, they didn't ask a thing about polysaccharides. I can't even remember what they are." Naminé opened her mouth to explain and Roxas held up a hand to silence her.

"Please, spare me Nami. Well, just making sure you two were okay. I'm gonna call Zexion, so if you need me I'll be in the kitchen." They nodded and he shut the door, making his way towards the kitchen. They were sweet kids and really easy to deal with. Roxas knew he was lucky with how they turned out, as compared to some of the monsters he'd met in his time. Roxas picked up the phone in the kitchen, twirling his fingers through the cord as he dialed the number. After three rings, a husky voice answered the phone, sounding annoyed at the mere prospect of being bothered.

"Um, hi. Can I talk to Zex-"

"Zexion, phone!" A few seconds later a quiet voice came over the line, calm and decisive.

"Hello?"

"Hey Zex, it's me," Roxas spoke quickly.

"I don't know if now is a good time, Roxas. My dad's just started his third glass of whiskey…"

"Zexion, weird shit happened in detention today. You want to come over? This way we'll both win."

"Yes, that might be a good idea. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Okay, great. See you soon." He hung up the phone and retreated into the living room, collapsing on the ratty old couch to await his friend.

----------------------

A/N: Wow, this one is just coming right out. It's like I just can't stop typing and I'm liking that a lot. Knock on wood, huh? I based Roxas' apartment on a place I used to live when I was younger. The only difference is that I shared Roxas' room with my older sister and we shared a single mattress on the floor because there wasn't enough room for two. I just gave them two because, I mean really, how awkward would that be? Review my lovelies, if you love me the way I hope you do.


	3. Zexion

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 3

There was a quiet knock on the door about twenty minutes later and Roxas debated actually getting off the couch and answering the door himself or not. Finally he decided that would probably be within his best interest and lugged himself off the couch and all the way to the front door about three feet away. Oh the agony.

He pulled the door open, surprised to see not only Zexion, but his brother Riku as well. Riku was Sora's age and the two boys had been best friends since they were babies.

"Hey Zex, Riku. Sora's in Naminé's room," he informed the latter, who made his way inside and down the hall.

"Sorry about him…I had a bad feeling about leaving him home alone with just my dad…"

"It's no problem, Zex. Come on in." When the silver-haired boy was safely in the living room, Roxas shut the door tightly behind him and led him towards his bedroom.

Zexion was Roxas' one and only friend, someone he'd known since birth. They used to live next door to each other, but after the death of Roxas' parents, Leon rented out this place a couple blocks away and they'd moved. Zexion had been the very first person Roxas had confided his sexuality in, and he hadn't really cared. After all, he was bi himself, but after seeing what happened to Roxas, he hadn't been crazy enough to announce that to the world.

Zexion had basically raised Riku from a young age, because his mother took off on them when Riku was two and his father was too absorbed in the bottle to pay any attention to his kids. Then again, that was the case with almost any parent who lived on that side of town. The kids of Ghettoville were tough because they had to be or they wouldn't make it through the day. The brothers were extremely close.

Standing somewhere around 5'10" Zexion was fairly tall. He was generally a quiet guy, but incredibly smart and funny if you could actually get him to talk to you. A lot of people were wary of him because he wore a lot of black and wore his hair in the "emo style", though he'd been wearing his hair like that since before the emo thing had really started. When he was seven, his father had gotten extremely drunk and tried to hit Riku, but Zexion had stepped in the way. His father had been so pissed he'd slashed him in the face with a broken bottle and got him in the eye. His father, still in a rage, hadn't bothered taking him to the hospital. He'd come to Roxas' house because his mother had been a nurse, but there really been no saving his eye at that point. He went blind in his right eye and the skin had scarred so badly, he'd grown his bangs out to cover it.

They settled themselves on the bed, Roxas leaning with his back against one wall and Zexion sitting up straight on the other end, leaning against nothing. He didn't like to slouch.

"All right, so tell me what was so epic and important that you couldn't wait until tomorrow to tell me about?"

"Well…do you know anything about a guy named Axel?" he asked.

"Axel Sinclair? Really tall, bright red hair?" Zexion asked, receiving a confirming nod from the blonde. "Yes, I've seen him around. Why? Did he do something to you…?"

Another thing about Zexion. He was fiercely loyal and willing to put himself on the line for the people he loved.

"Well…not really…he just, well…" he paused trying to think of the right way to put it. "He kissed me, Zex…well, I mean, I kissed him back, it's not like he was assaulting me or…"

"Wait. Wait a moment. Axel Sinclair is gay?" he asked, his one steel blue eye blinking rapidly as if it were a compulsion.

"Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, he just really realized it today…he asked if he could kiss me just to make sure and I let him."

"So…you kissed Axel Sinclair because he wanted to make sure that he was gay?"

"Zex, no matter which way you say it, the outcome is the same. Axel is gay and we kissed."

Zexion shook his head. "Is this bad or good, Roxas? Help me out."

Roxas let out a small groan. "I don't know if it's good or bad, Zex. He's all ready to come out to his friends and god, I don't know if I can handle the looks I'm bound to get. They'll be convinced that I'm like, converting people, or something! But I mean, he's gorgeous, have you seen him, he's like fucking sex on legs or something and damn he's a really good kisser but I don't even know if he was just using me or joking around and he's gonna be an ass about tomorrow and I don't know what to expect and I hate that!" He paused to breathe and Zexion took the moment to get a word in.

"Roxas, I think you might talk yourself into a coma if you don't calm down. Take a moment to breathe and then explain your thoughts. Rationally and coherently, if you please."

Roxas followed his instructions, breathing deeply for a minute before he spoke again.

"All right…I guess it wouldn't be too bad…because I'm attracted to Axel. I mean, how could I not be, he's gorgeous. Not to mention that he's a good kisser and he seemed interested, because I mean, why the hell else would he have wanted to kiss me? But then again, I'm having doubts, too. I guess it's kind of impossible for me to completely trust him after everything I've been through from this whole town for the last few years."

Zexion nodded. "That's perfectly reasonable."

"Yeah, cause I mean…what if it's just some cruel joke that he was put up to by his friends? Convince the gay kid that he's not alone and then tear him apart from the inside. I don't want to believe that Axel would do that to me, but in all honesty, I just don't know him that well. Even if he was interested to begin with, he probably wants to get as far away from me as he possibly can, now."

Zexion frowned, tilting his head slightly to the side. "Why do you think that?" he asked.

"He offered me a ride home today and I took it because I was really late and I knew Leon had to get to work. I don't think he realized I live in the heart of Ghettoville, but you should have seen how tense he was the entire time we were driving through here. Or better yet, you should have seen his face when he stopped here. I thought his jaw was gonna fall off Zex. He didn't realize that he was getting involved with white trash, I guess."

"Stop it, Roxas," Zexion snapped. "Don't talk down on yourself because of the opinion of others. You know better then that, I know you do." Roxas sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry Zex. I just can't help but think that it's pointless sometimes. Maybe we're just destined to turn out like our parents, you know? Drinking nonstop, slapping our kids around…"

Zexion's hand snatched out, catching Roxas in the cheek. His head snapped to the side with the momentum, leaving his cheek stinging. "Don't you say that, Roxas. Don't you fucking say that! As soon as you give up, that's when it happens. That's when you become your parents." Roxas was frozen in shock. He couldn't believe Zexion hit him. "I'm sorry for hitting you, Roxas…but maybe that will be your reminder. I have my very own reminder." Zexion swept his bangs back behind his ear, revealing his ruined eye. A large, jagged scar stretched from the middle of his forehead down across his eye and to his cheek, ugly and bold. "I see that every day, Rox, and it reminds me. It drives me to get the hell out of Ghettoville. I'm going to make something out of myself and then I'm leaving and I'm taking Riku with me. I just hope that you'll get out before you're cursed with your own scars."

Roxas stared into Zexion's eye for a long moment before he sighed softly. "Of course you're right, Zexion. But it's too late. I have my own scars, mine just aren't as tangible as yours." Zexion loosed his hair from behind his ear, hiding his imperfection from the world once more.

They were quiet then for a very long time, neither of them able to think of anything to say. Seconds melted into minutes and minutes into hours. They listened in their silence to the sounds throughout the rest of the house, music and laughter coming from Naminé's room, cars driving down the street outside. The can man who lived next to the dumpster at the end of the street went by slowly, the bad wheel on his grocery cart squeaking loudly. After an hour and a half, Zexion finally spoke again.

"If this thing with Axel works out, I'll be happy for you Rox. If it doesn't…well, he doesn't deserve you anyway. Either way, that's one more reason for you to fight your way out of here and live up to the tremendous amount of potential that you have."

Roxas smiled softly at his friend. Zexion always knew just what to say. "Thanks Zex."

The door fell open and Sora entered, Riku close behind, both of them flopping on Sora's bed at the same time, narrowly missing crashing into each other.

"Roxaaaas," Sora whined, "We're _starving_. When are you gonna make dinner?"

"You're fourteen, why don't you cook and give me a night off?" Roxas grumbled good-naturedly.

"That might be because Sora burns water," Riku said dryly, causing Sora to smack his arm indignantly.

"Tis true. On that note, I guess I'll start heading to the kitchen." He pulled himself to his feet and offered a hand to Zexion. After they were both on their feet, they headed to scour the kitchen in search of something that was dinner-like. The fridge had ketchup, a jar of peanut butter, a jug of kool-aid, and the remains of what had used to be an apple, but now appeared to be a breeding ground for mold. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, he fished the apple out and chucked it, slamming the refrigerator door shut in frustration.

"Why not spaghetti?" Zexion asked. "You've got a can of Ragu in here." Roxas glanced over at the counter and saw that the jar full of spaghetti noodles had just about enough to feed them all.

"Yeah, sure, let's do that," he said. "Grab that Ragu, will you?" He ducked under the sink to look in the cupboard for a pan. Once he found one to his liking he yanked it out and filled it with water and set the heat, allowing it to start to boil.

"Roxas, can I help?" Naminé asked. She liked to hang out in the kitchen and help with the cooking. Roxas had known how to make enough food to keep himself alive by the time he was ten, and Naminé still couldn't cook much. Leon was paranoid about one of the twins getting hurt in the kitchen, thus he or Roxas were the designated cookers in the house. Zexion was even expected to help out when he was over, which didn't really bother him at all.

"Uh, well, I don't really know if there's much to do. Spaghetti's pretty simple…" At Naminé's pout, he folded easily.

"Um…how about you look in the cupboards and the freezer and see if there are any vegetables that you can get for dinner?" Naminé grinned and nodded, beginning to rummage through the cupboards. Roxas reached into his pocket and grabbed out his cigarettes, displeased to see that he only had three left. He offered one to Zexion, who shook his head.

"I'm trying to quit, remember?" Was the explanation.

"Right, I forgot, sorry." He lit it on the burner and inhaled, opening the window a crack to let the smoke filter out.

"Roxas, you know Leon doesn't like it when you smoke around us," Naminé reminded gently, ever the peacekeeper.

"Naminé," Roxas retorted. "You know Leon doesn't like you playing in the kitchen when the stove's on." She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"All right, you got me. I won't tell if you won't." He grinned and held out his hand for a shake.

"You have a deal, little sister." They shook on it and the deal was done. Twenty minutes later, when Sora walked in histrionically hacking up his left lung and complaining about cigarette smoke, all Roxas had to do was threaten him with no dinner to get him to keep quiet. Of course, he'd never actually deny Sora dinner and Sora would never actually fink him out. It was all just loving teases.

After dinner, Roxas wrapped the leftovers up and left them in the fridge for Leon when he got home. It was only about eight o' clock, but Roxas was exhausted, so he took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, put on his pajamas and fell into bed. He slept through the night, waking only once when Zexion slipped in beside him a few hours later, cuddling close for warmth. He wrapped his arms around his friend and hugged him close to his chest, easily falling back to sleep.

----------------------

A/N: Don't eat my face, Zexion and Roxas are not going to get together. This is an AkuRoku fic for a reason. I thought it would be interesting to make Zexion and Roxas really close because they kind of strike me as people who might fit together well under certain circumstances. As for Zexion's eye? Well, yeah, I decided to give him a reason for hiding his face instead of just, "omygawd, he's EMO!" I thought it was a bit overused, so I decided to switch it up a bit. Like it, hate it? Let me know, review.


	4. Jane's

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 4

"He's just in there. Good luck getting him to wake up, though, he sleeps like a rock. Not really a morning person, if you know what I mean." Roxas wanted to kill Sora for talking so loudly at, he squinted at his alarm clock, five thirty in the morning? What the hell? Why was he awake at five thirty in the morning? And…who was Sora talking to? Zexion was curled against his chest, still sleeping soundly, his breaths tickling Roxas' neck just slightly.

"Thanks kid." The door opened and a cheerful voice said, "Hey, Roxy! I was wondering if you might…oh. Um…this is a little awkward." Roxas blinked twice before sitting up. The blankets pooled around his waist and Zexion shifted to try and warm himself up from the sudden loss of heat. The brilliant red in front of him made him wince for a moment before he associated the color, the voice, and the nickname.

"Axel?" he grumbled. "What the hell are you doing here at five thirty in the morning?"

"Well, I was gonna offer to take you to breakfast before school…but I don't know if your boyfriend would be too happy about that…"

Roxas was confused. What the hell was he on about? Breakfast? Boyfriend? His mind slowly comprehended what he was saying and he suddenly understood.

"Boyfriend? You mean Zexion? No, he's not my boyfriend. He's my best friend. Platonic relationship."

Axel quirked an eyebrow. "That didn't look too platonic to me, Roxy."

Roxas let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, Zexion's my friend that's all. We sleep in the same bed because, in case you hadn't noticed, there's not much room in this house. We sleep so close because, again in case you hadn't noticed, it's fucking freezing and body heat keeps you warm."

Axel nodded slowly. "Yeah, all right. So, what say you? Wanna come to breakfast with me?"

"You mean…like, a date, or just friendly five in the fucking morning breakfast?" Roxas asked tiredly.

"Interpret it as you will, Roxy. I'm considering it a date," Axel said with a grin. He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Yeah, all right, fine. Give me ten minutes to get ready, okay?" Axel nodded and left the room, leaving Roxas to have a mini freak out session.

"Zex," he shook his slumbering friend. "Zexion, wake up!" Zexion cracked his eye open, looking up at Roxas in annoyance.

"What is it, Roxas?"

"Oh, God, Zex. Axel is here! Like, in my house, offering to take me to breakfast here!"

"Congratulations," Zexion yawned, bunching Roxas' pillow under his head and closing his eyes.

"Zex! What do I do?" Roxas hissed.

"Get dressed, brush your teeth and hair, write Leon a note, and go on your early-ass date. I'll take care of the kids," he muttered sleepily.

"I love you Zexion!" he muttered. "Really, I do. Thanks." He jumped out of bed, incredibly grateful that he'd decided to shower the night before instead of waiting for the morning. Looking through the closet he shared with Sora, he finally found a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt he found fitting. He considered pulling on his hoodie, but it was so threadbare it didn't do much to keep him warm anyway. He rushed into the bathroom, brushing his teeth with one hand and straightening out his hair with the other. He grabbed his bag and cigarettes from his room and made his way toward the living room where Axel was leaning against the front door, waiting for him patiently.

"Ready, Roxy?"

Something wasn't right…there was an alarm going off…and snoring. Leon! Roxas looked over the couch, dismayed to see his brother sleeping soundly, straight through his alarm clock. He grabbed the brunet's shoulders and gave him a shake.

"Wha's happening?" he muttered.

"Leon, get up. You slept half an hour past your alarm!" Roxas hissed, trying to wake his brother. Leon took a moment to comprehend this before sitting up straight, almost colliding with Roxas as he did so.

"Shit!" he growled, jumping out of bed. "Shit. Thanks Roxas." He spotted Axel and frowned. "Who the hell are you? No, don't answer that never mind. I don't have time."

"Now are you ready?" Axel asked with an amused smile. Roxas nodded and followed the redhead, who was already out the door and heading towards his truck. As soon as they were in the truck and pulling away, Roxas grabbed a cigarette and placed it between his lips before checking his pockets for his lighter, only to find that he'd forgotten it in his room. Dammit.

"Need a light?" Axel asked. When Roxas nodded, he held out his hand toward the blonde and snapped his fingers. Roxas was amazed as the flame built up on Axel's thumb.

"What the…how the hell did you do that?" he asked, reaching out to touch it. Axel snapped his hand away.

"Don't touch it, stupid. It's fire, for god's sake."

"How the hell did you do that?" Roxas asked again.

Axel looked at him and shrugged. "I'm pyrokinetic. I've always been able to do it. My dad thinks I'm a freak, but my friends are pretty damn impressed by it. Now, do you want a light, or not?"

"Uh yeah…sorry, I'm just not used to people who can create fire in their fucking hands…"

"Not just on my hands," Axel said simply, lighting his thumb up again. "I can light my whole body up, but it's actually kind of unpleasant, so I tend to channel it all through my hands."

"Uh…right," Roxas said, a little weirded out as he lit his cigarette on Axel's flame.

"And," Axel announced. "Since I was nice enough to light your cigarette and share my little secret with you, you're going to share you cigarette with me." Roxas took a drag, shrugged, and passed it to the redhead, who grinned.

"Ah, gotta love the Jedi mind trick. Works every time."

"You're extremely strange, did anyone ever tell you that?" he asked with a slight frown as Axel took a drag as well.

"I get it all the time. Between my fire, my unique yet dashingly good looks, and my personality, I am quite the strange enigma around these parts."

"Not to mention being a morning person, making out with random guys in detention, then proceeded to take said random guy on a date at five in…"

"…the fucking morning," Axel supplied with a flourish. "I can take you home if you're gonna whine about it."

Roxas felt a slight wave of panic. He didn't want Axel to take him home, even if they were awake before God. He also didn't want Axel to know that he wanted to be around him, so he just shrugged.

"Well, I'm already awake. Might as well get some food that I don't have to cook out of it," he said as nonchalantly as he could manage, staring out the front windshield. Still, out of the corner of his eye he could see Axel grinning.

"You know, I just don't get it!" He finally huffed, looking at the redhead in exasperation. "How can you be so comfortable with all this? I mean, we just met yesterday! You just figured out you were gay yesterday! How can you be sitting here nonchalantly flirting with me as if it's nothing?" he demanded.

Axel shrugged, flicking his gaze over to Roxas for a long moment and handing the cigarette back.

"I don't know, I guess I'm just comfortable with who I am. I don't see the point in hiding it or acting differently just because of something so small. I don't define people by sexual preference or anything like that, so why should I do it for myself?"

Roxas had never thought of it that way. There wasn't really much to be said about his being gay. It was just part of the bigger picture…so why had he been classified, even by himself, as the gay kid? Hmm…Axel could be an interesting brain to pick. He made good points that really made Roxas rethink things that he "knew". Axel pulled into the parking lot of a small diner just outside the Ghettoville border. It was a small family owned business called Jane's and it had a quaint and homey feel to it.

As Axel got out of the car, Roxas quickly reached into his bag and pulled out his wallet. There was only a crumpled dollar bill in there. He'd spent most of his last paycheck on the rent and cigarettes, but he hadn't known he was out of money. He shoved the wallet in his back pocket and got out of the car. Axel cast him a strange glance but didn't ask any questions, which Roxas was grateful for.

A bell jingled as they entered and Roxas liked the place immediately. There was a long bar along one wall with stools placed at intervals down the length. Two old men sat there, about three stools apart both sipping coffee, one reading a newspaper and the other chewing his waffles thoughtfully. There were about seven tables spread across the rest of the room, all small, wood, and scrubbed clean. Knickknacks rested on the windowsills and on shelves against the walls. It sort of felt like visiting a grandparent's house.

Axel headed to the bar and Roxas followed, taking the seat next to the redhead at the very end of the bar. A woman who had to be about fifty years old approached them with two menus.

"Axel, honey, it's been a while since I've seen you. I thought you'd forgotten about me!" she greeted them with a large grin.

"How could I ever forget about you, Jane?" Axel grinned back. "Such a pretty lady could never slip my mind!" Roxas fought the urge to roll his eyes. Axel, it appeared, was a shameless flirt. It didn't help that he was extremely charismatic. He could probably get anyone to do exactly what he wanted with hardly any effort at all. Jane giggled, more of a hoarse laugh, and patted Axel's hand.

"You're such a charmer. What can I get you to drink?" Axel ordered orange juice and Roxas ordered black coffee.

"Ew, black? Axel demanded, looking incredulous. "How can you drink it like that?"

Roxas shrugged. "I like my coffee strong," he muttered defensively. Axel shrugged and shot him a look that clearly said he was insane before studying his menu. Roxas opened his for show, scanning the menu but not really paying attention.

"I'm thinking I want French toast," Axel declared, snapping his menu shut. "What about you, Roxy?"

Roxas shrugged, studying his menu to avoid looking at Axel. "I'll just have my coffee," he said, hoping Axel would accept that answer. Of course he didn't. That would have been too easy.

"What? No, come on I know you're hungry. The food here is great…"

"Just forget it!" Roxas hissed, his cheeks burning.

"No, you have to get something to eat. You'll starve at school if you don't. What is it, are you a picky eater or something…?"

"I can't afford anything else!" Roxas snapped angrily, training his eyes on the chip in the Formica countertop. God, why did he have to push it? Why couldn't he just have accepted that Roxas didn't want anything else?

"Oh. Hey, it's no big deal. I'll pay," he said, acting as if that solved the problem.

"I don't want charity," Roxas muttered, staring at the chip as if he could make it bigger with just the power of his mind.

"It's not charity!" Axel insisted with a laugh. "I asked you out, it's right that I should pay. Please, Roxas?"

The blonde let out a sigh as he folded. "Okay, fine. Pay," he muttered, inexplicably feeling as if he had lost some sort of battle. Maybe it was just the battle with his pride.

Jane set their respective drinks down in front of them with another smile.

"All right, boys, what can I get you?" she asked.

Axel ordered his French toast and Roxas ordered the first thing he saw, which turned out to be blueberry pancakes. Of course Axel was right. The food was absolutely delicious. Jane was a nice woman too, and funny. As they ate, the blonde forgot his earlier wounded pride, that is, until Axel pulled out his wallet and set the money on the counter. With mixed feelings, Roxas followed the redhead out the door and to his truck, trying to mentally prepare himself for school. The day could go any number of ways, Roxas realized, and it all depended on Axel.

---------------------------

A/N: Ah, Axel. So charismatic. So tactless. Kinda scary that Roxas' day depends on Axel's actions, huh? I think so. Dudes, so I'm volunteering for Vacation Bible School at my church and I'm about ready to kill myself. I mean, it's fantastic that we're trying to get kids psyched about Jesus (because Jesus is amazing, IMO) but I just don't like dealing with little children (See: HATE KIDS) and my group of kids don't listen for crap. Not to mention that my three cousins Grace(5), Emma(8), and Faith(10) are staying at my house for the whole week. They're sweet, yet annoying and I can't escape the children no matter where I go. Right now, I'm hiding in my room with my stereo turned all the way up listening to A Thousand Winters Melting by The Myriad on Air1 (it's a country wide Christian station!) and hoping that my family forgets I'm home. Much love, loyal readers! Review!


	5. Family

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 5

As soon as they got out of the truck in the school's parking lot, Axel set off in the direction of the side courtyard, locking the truck by pointing the remote over his shoulder as an afterthought. Roxas was slightly disappointed as he realized they would pretend they didn't know each other at school, though he knew he had no reason to be. Of course Axel wouldn't want to drag him around and destroy his reputation. It made sense, really. He shouldered his bag and started off toward the front doors.

"Hey, Roxy, where are you going?" He stopped, startled, and turned to look at the redhead, who was looking at him in confusion.

"Oh…uh…I was just heading to class…" he stuttered out as an excuse.

"Roxas, class doesn't start for another twenty minutes. Come on, come meet my friends. They're a little crazy, but you'll love them, I promise." Not really having a good excuse and really wanting to follow the redhead anyway, Roxas shrugged and followed after Axel to meet his friends. They were sitting on the far end of the courtyard, stretched out across a long picnic table. As the introductions went around, Roxas tried to remember who was who.

The guy with pink hair was Marluxia (call him Marly, everyone does!), Larxene had strange bangs that slicked back, reminding Roxas vaguely of a grasshopper, Cloud was a silent blonde, and the, erm, well-endowed Tifa was his girlfriend. The pretty longhaired brunette was Aeris. Demyx was a bubbly blonde with a mullet/mohawk thing going on, and Axel seemed to have a special liking for him. As soon as the introductions were finished, Axel sent Demyx a big grin and said, "Hey Demyx, guess what? Roxas is family."

Demyx let out an excited laugh and grinned. "Really? Wow, I thought we might be the only ones, which would be pretty awkward, huh? Well, Roxas, welcome to the family…well, I mean, I guess you were already family before this, but I didn't know so I guess it could still be welcome, couldn't it?" Roxas had no idea what the hell Axel meant by family, but he was pretty sure he'd regret asking.

"I'm…what now?" Roxas asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"He means you're gay," Cloud interjected, making Roxas' eyebrows rise a few inches.

"Demyx insists that the gay community makes up a family," Aeris explained with a small smile.

"Wouldn't that mean that they're all fucking family?" Larxene asked with an amused smirk.

"Hey, as long as the family is sexy," Demyx said with a flirty grin. "Coincidentally enough, Roxas, how have I not met you before?"

Axel's eyes narrowed just slightly, his arm coming to loop around Roxas' shoulders.

"Mine, bitch," he said warningly, to which Demyx laughed and held up his hands as if to show he was unarmed.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Roxy's off limits." The group fell silent for a long moment before there was a high laugh.

"Tell me Axel's joined the family," Tifa grinned, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

Axel nodded grimly. "They added my name to the family tree just yesterday."

Larxene rolled her eyes, setting an elbow on table and propping her chin on her hand. "Axel's gay. What a huge surprise," she said sarcastically. "I knew it since the moment I saw him." She tapped her temple knowingly.

"Larxene has an infallible gaydar. She's never wrong," Axel informed Roxas, who was quite intrigued by these new people. They'd just found out their friend of how many years was gay and they acted as if he'd announced that oxygen was required for living. As if it were no big deal. Where had these people been all these years when Roxas had been living in hell because of the homophobic bastards all around him? Hardly five minutes and he already felt completely relaxed. Axel must have picked up on this, because he grinned, tightening his grip around Roxas' shoulders and pulling him close into his side.

"I told you you'd love them. Now do you understand how I was so comfortable with being myself? These guys are the least judgmental, hardest to surprise people in the world. Nothing fazes them, ever."

It was actually quite easy to see why he was so comfortable around these people. They all seemed really close, close like Roxas felt to Zexion, as if they'd been together all their lives, and maybe they had.

"Roxas! Hey Roxas!" The blonde turned as he heard his name being called, only to see Sora running up to him, Riku following at a close pace behind.

"Hey, Demyx," Larxene cackled as the brunet got closer. "Future family, the both of them." Demyx let out a squeal of delight and Roxas groaned just thinking about it. The worst part was, it was most likely true. The difference about Sora that comforted Roxas, though, was Riku. Even as a freshman, people knew not to screw with him. Even better, they knew not to screw with Sora because Riku would defend his best friend even more unflinchingly then himself.

"What's up Sora? Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"No, everything is fine! I just wanted to say hi, you know considering I didn't really see you at all this morning because he, what's his name?, anyway, he showed up and basically dragged you out of bed so I guess I just missed seeing your face in the morning. Oh, and Leon wants you to stop at the grocery store after work today because he doesn't have any cash left and the spaghetti we had last night was literally the last of the food we had in the house." He said all this very quickly, hardly stopping to take a breath. After years of living with him though, Roxas fluently understood the foreign language of Sora.

"Well, shit," he muttered, then lowered his voice because he didn't want Axel's friends to hear. "Listen, So, I don't have any money left either…ask one of your friends if you can stay at their place tonight, all right? Tell Naminé the same…"

Sora looked troubled, his wide blue eyes staring into Roxas'. "But what about you and Leon…?"

"We'll figure something out, don't worry about it. Just do what I say, okay?" Sora nodded and he and Riku set off across the lawn, back toward the building. He felt a little bad for lying to his brother, but sometimes sacrifices had to be made. It certainly wouldn't be the first time he went hungry in order to feed his younger siblings. He was suddenly grateful that Axel had insisted that he eat that morning. He didn't know how long it would be until he ate again. He turned back to Axel and his friends to see Axel watching him suspiciously, his green eyes slightly narrowed.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Nothing," Roxas lied easily. "My brother just wanted to see me because he missed me this morning."

"Sweet kid," Axel said, though Roxas could tell he didn't believe a word of it.

The warning bell rang and the group dispersed almost instantaneously. Roxas followed at a slightly slower pace after them, avoiding Axel's questioning gaze all the way there.

Roxas didn't see Zexion until lunch, where he found his friend waiting for him by the door to the cafeteria, just as he did everyday.

"Hey Zex. Thanks a lot for this morning, you're such a great friend." Zexion cast him a small smile and nodded.

"Of course, Roxas. It was no problem. How was your date?"

Roxas smiled, remembering that morning. "It was really great, actually. He took me to this diner and the food was really good. He…um…well, I let him pay for it…" Zexion shot him a surprised look and Roxas blushed slightly.

"Well, he was all insistent that I eat something but I couldn't afford anything and when he found that out, he insisted on paying because he was the one who'd asked me out and I couldn't come up with a good argument."

"Well, I suppose he went about it in a good way. At least it wasn't one of those 'oh, I'm a good person because I give to those less fortunate!'. That would have been annoying." Roxas nodded in agreement.

They started making their way through the crowd of the cafeteria, heading toward their table in the farthest corner of the cafeteria.

"Watch your right side," Roxas instructed quietly and Zexion turned his head slightly to avoid walking into the pillar there. Roxas often had to point out things on the right that Zexion couldn't see out of his peripheral vision or judge the distance of. They never really acknowledged it, but Roxas knew his friend was thankful for the help.

"Hey Roxas! Come here!" he glanced over in the direction of the voice to see Demyx waving him over with a large grin. Roxas hesitated, glancing at Zexion. Demyx seemed to understand the problem and got up from his table, making his way over to them.

"Come on, sit with us today, pretty please?" He extended his hand to Zexion with a grin.

"Hi, I'm Demyx. I just thought you ought to know that I'm kidnapping you both to my lunch table today."

"Zexion. I'd noticed. I suppose I can sacrifice my silence." They started toward the table, Demyx pulling Roxas back a bit.

"Hey Roxy," he said quietly, conspiratorially. "Is your friend, his name is Zexion?, yeah, is he family?"

It took Roxas a moment to figure out what Demyx was talking about. He broke into a grin.

"Not exactly…he's more like…step-family," Roxas answered carefully, nodding when Demyx mouthed the word 'bi'. The dirty-blonde broke into a broad grin.

"That's all I need to work my magic. He's not, like, taken or anything, is he?"

"Not at all," Roxas informed him. Demyx grinned even wider and practically skipped back to the table. Roxas followed behind him, taking a seat on Zexion's right side, Demyx having already taken up the left. It had been a lucky guess on the other blonde's part, sitting where Zexion could actually see him.

The rest of the group sidled up over the next few minutes, each taking their seats and talking as if there weren't two new people at their table at all. The last person to show was Axel, who looked positively delighted to see Roxas at the table.

"There you are, Roxy, I was looking for you. Ah, and there's the friend from your bed this morning…wait, I remember your name…Zexion, right?"

Zexion nodded at him as a confirmation and a hello before turning his attention back to Demyx, who was chattering on about something that seemed to interest Zexion quite a bit. Or maybe he was as smitten as Demyx was; it was kind of hard to tell with him. Seeing that the rest of the table-except for Roxas-was already eating, Axel stood as well.

"I'm gonna go grab some food. Coming Roxas?"

The blonde shook his head. "Nah, I…uh…I forgot my lunch money. I'll just eat when I get home," he lied. Axel's eyes narrowed and he knew the redhead knew he was lying but hoped he wouldn't say anything. Much to his relief, he didn't out his lie.

"Yeah, okay…" He made his way to the lunch line and Zexion turned away from Demyx to send Roxas a knowing glance. Roxas just shook his head, warning him to let it go.

"Hey, heads up!" He looked up just in time to throw his hand up and catch an orange that had been thrown his way by Tifa. "Not eating lunch sucks, and I wasn't planning on eating that anyway. You can have it if you want it," she said turning back to her conversation with Cloud. Roxas blinked and shrugged.

"Yeah, you can have my extra sandwich," Aeris offered. "The maid always makes me two even though I can never eat both of them and I tell her that all the time. Is turkey okay?" Roxas accepted the sandwich, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the maid comment. He didn't feel bad, taking the food from them, because they offered it as friends, not as a charity case. They didn't know Roxas was destitute, trying desperately to think of how to feed his family until his next paycheck came in a week. They were just nice people, offering food to a friend who'd forgotten his lunch money. He thanked them quietly and when Axel showed up with a lunch tray, he beamed as if proud of his friends or maybe he was proud of Roxas. They lapsed into conversation and it was basically forgotten about by the time the bell rang, dismissing them to their next period class. Still, Roxas couldn't help but think about it for the rest of the day. These people were genuinely nice, not at all how he'd imagined they would be. Maybe he'd been judging too harshly and it was time that he changed his view on the world around him.

--------------------

A/N: So, more troubles brew at home, yet things in the social world seem to be looking up. If you took the time to read this and you liked it, please do me the favor of reviewing. I respond to every review I get and it really makes my day to read all your thoughts and opinions.


	6. Job Issues

A/N: Hey guys, I'm really sorry that it took so long for me to post this one but I have an excellent excuse. I have been in the hospital for the last few dies writhing in agony over my four-you heard me, FOUR-kidney stones. I don't know if you've ever had a kidney stone, but let me tell you, I've never been in more pain in my life. My ma says they hurt worse then labor. So, uh, yeah...don't be mad. I'm high like a kite on hydrocodone right now and I still hurt...so yeah...enjoy!

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 6

The street was dark but for the dim streetlights reflecting off the wet asphalt as Roxas walked home from work. It was nearly midnight and his stomach had long since begun to growl. It didn't help much that he worked in a restaurant and he'd had to smell everyone else's food as he worked from 3-11. He'd had to close and then, having no ride, had begun the long walk home. He worked at a Denny's three blocks from his school, which also meant all the way across town from Ghettoville. He was used to making the walk, but doing so in the rain wasn't the most desirable of situations. His hair and clothes had long since become plastered to his body, the rain relentless and heavy, pelting him like bullets. He wasn't going to get paid for another week and he was in an awful mood due to the cigarette withdrawal he was going through. He should have known better then to get addicted to something. Addictions were for people who could afford them. He was relieved to turn onto his own street, ready to just collapse in bed and sleep but knowing that he couldn't because he had a lot of homework to do. He treaded up the steps slowly, pushing the door open tiredly. The first thing he saw was Leon, sitting in the middle of the floor with his head in his hands.

"Squall?" Roxas asked quietly, using his older brother's real name as he always did when worried about him. His brother's head shot up and he looked at Roxas, his deep brown eyes troubled.

"What happened?" he asked, closing and locking the door behind him before approaching his brother and dropping into a sitting position next to him.

"It's nothing, Roxas, don't worry about it. I imagine the lack of groceries means that you're out of money, too?"

"I sent Sora and Naminé to friends houses. They'll get fed there…but I don't know what we're gonna do for the rest of the week."

"We'll think of something," Leon said quietly. "Rox…I've gotta tell you something…I…I got fired today."

Roxas felt his stomach drop. They were barely managing to keep their apartment as it was, not to mention feeding Sora and Naminé. Roxas' paycheck just wasn't enough to cover it all. Jobs were in high demand, especially in Ghettoville and it would be extremely hard for Leon to find work.

"Leon…" Roxas said quietly. "We haven't paid this month's rent yet. We…we were gonna cut down so we could afford it…"

"I know," he responded, his voice just as quiet. "I'm sorry. I'm such a fucking failure at this…"

"Shut up, Leon," Roxas snarled. "You're doing your best, we know that. Dammit, you shouldn't have to do this. You shouldn't have to raise us. You escaped Ghettoville…and we yanked you right back into it. You shouldn't have had to drop out of college to take care of us…"

"But I did, Roxas, and I'm not doing a very good job of it. The landlord'll be around for the rent in three days…when he sees that we don't have it he's going to kick us out."

Roxas took in a shaky breath, his eyes falling closed in distress. He knew that he and Leon were tough enough, hard enough, to make it on the streets…but Sora and Naminé were just kids. Despite the place they'd grown up in, they were innocent and good, too much so for being homeless. Sitting on the floor with his older brother, Roxas realized for the first time exactly how screwed they were. Everything was falling apart around them while they struggled vainly to hold it together by themselves. Roxas had always believed that as long as they stayed together everything would be okay, but now he knew those were childish dreams.

"So…what do we do?" Roxas asked quietly.

Leon looked at Roxas for a long time, his eyes clearly saying that he had no idea what to do. Finally, though, he spoke. "I guess we start packing up. Only things we can carry around with us. Also, we need to find somewhere to send Naminé and Sora. I won't have them living on the streets."

Roxas nodded in agreement, but he frowned as well. "We don't know anyone who can take them, Leon…do you think we might…have to put them into the system?"

"I really wish I could say no, Roxas, but I think that's exactly what we have to do."

Roxas nodded, suddenly feeling completely drained. "I'm sorry Leon…I just can't handle this right now. I'm…I'm gonna head to bed and we can talk more about this tomorrow, okay? Sora's gonna fight tooth and nail against us on this."

"I know, Rox. Go to bed."

As the blonde made his way down the hall toward his room, he heard his brother whisper quietly. "I'm sorry." Having no answer, he slipped inside and collapsed onto his bed, sleep claiming him in seconds.

He awoke to his alarm clock early the next morning, but his answer to that was to slap it off and fall back to sleep.

The next time he awoke, it was to see Zexion sitting next to him, slouching against the wall. Roxas instantly knew something was wrong. Zexion hated to slouch. He sat up, looking at his friend worriedly.

"What happened?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong with me, Roxas. It's you who has the problem. Leon told me everything. I'm sorry." The memories from the night before hit him hard and he could feel the pressure building behind his eyes. He didn't want to cry, but it was a difficult task to accomplish. Roxas dropped back onto the mattress, pulling his thin blanket tightly around his shoulders.

"What time is it?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"About four thirty," Zexion answered, his hand coming to stroke through Roxas' hair softly. "Your new boyfriend was looking for you today. He seemed extremely upset that you weren't around."

A tiny smile slipped across Roxas' lips as he thought of the fiery redhead. "He's not my boyfriend. I mean, not officially or anything. It probably won't happen now."

Zexion sighed quietly, his hand stilling its movement's through the blonde's hair. "I haven't spent much time around Axel, but from what I can tell he doesn't seem shallow enough…"

"No, that's not what I mean. I guess I think it might be too stressful to deal with a boyfriend on top of everything else right now."

Zexion nodded, his hand continuing its motions. "I don't know, Rox. He might be exactly what you need right now. A break from reality, you could say. He could be someone strong to lean on just because you don't feel right leaning on anyone else. I normally wouldn't make the assumption that you could do that with him, but it really says a lot that you let him pay for something for you."

That was true, Roxas hated taking money from people for any which reason. He wasn't exactly sure why he'd let Axel pay the previous morning, but it really wasn't a common occurrence.

"I really like him, Zex. I don't want to drag him down with my problems and scare him away."

Zexion was quiet for a long time, his head leaned back to stare at the ceiling.

"You do what you think you should, Roxas. I'll be behind you on it either way."

"Thanks Zex." Roxas paused, wondering if he should push the subject or not before deciding it was his privilege as best friend. "So…you and Demyx seem to be getting along pretty well."

Zexion shifted slightly, but otherwise showed no form of discomfort.

"Yes, I suppose. He's…interesting."

"Extremely bubbly," Roxas interjected with a grin. "He kind of reminds me of a thirteen year old girl." Zexion smirked at the assessment and nodded his head.

"It's endearing," he admitted, eye closed, possibly to avoid looking at Roxas. The aforementioned grinned wickedly and prodded his friend's side.

"You like him," he accused. "I knew something was up yesterday when you were paying so much attention to whatever it is he was talking about. You usually ignore people who ramble and Demyx was most definitely rambling. I can't believe you like him! He doesn't seem like your type…"

"How do you know what my type is?" Zexion demanded petulantly. Roxas shrugged, propping himself up on his elbows and watching his friend intently.

"I don't really know. I always just imagined you with someone studious and quiet, but smart, kind of like yourself."

"And what about Axel?" Zexion retorted. "He's the kind that usually annoys the hell out of you, and yet you practically salivate every time his name comes up."

"I do not!" Roxas gasped, slightly offended. "I don't know…there's just something about him. Something different that I really like."

"He's like a breath of fresh air, something so far out of the norm that it's just completely desirable."

"Exactly!" Roxas exclaimed, wondering how Zexion had known just how he was feeling.

"Exactly," he responded. It was then that Roxas realized that his friend had been talking about Demyx instead of Axel.

"Well, that's good. I'm happy for you. I think you two will make a good couple; your personalities compliment each other perfectly.

Zexion snorted. "Didn't you meet Demyx yesterday? How can you even know such a thing?"

"It's just a feeling I have, Zex. Besides, he's totally interested in you, he was asking after you yesterday at lunch."

Zexion shot him a wry smile. "I'm not worried about that. I'm not so dense that I couldn't tell he was flirting with me. I just wonder how he'll react when he finds out about my disfigurement."

"You're not disfigured, Zex. It's just a scar."

"A large scar. One that blinded me. It still repulses me, how could I expect him to react any differently?" Roxas thought of the bubbly blonde he'd just made the day before. Something told him that a scar wasn't something that would deter him from liking Zexion, but then again, he really didn't know the other blonde very well.

"Zex, I don't think Demyx would care about it too much. I mean, he might be a bit shocked at first but I don't think he's that small-minded. If he is, well, you deserve better anyway."

Roxas realized that they'd come full circle. Just two nights ago, Zexion had been giving him that very same speech about Axel. Zexion seemed to realize this as well, because he gave a quiet chuckle.

"Perhaps I shouldn't judge him too harshly yet," he said, shaking his head slightly.

"Well, now that we've talked ourselves into being more trusting of those around us, I think it might be time for you to head out to the living room and speak with Axel." Roxas made a strange choking noise, sitting up quickly.

"Axel? He's here? How…long has he been sitting out there?"

"I'd say about half an hour. He worried about being too intrusive by just showing up and I told him I'd warm you up to the idea."

"That was your idea of warming me up? Damn, Zex, you suck at this!" he cried. "I probably look like shit, I've been sleeping all day! I haven't showered or brushed my teeth or anything!"

Zexion shrugged simply. "Do it now."

"I don't have time to take a shower, I can't just leave him sitting around forever!"

"Last I checked, Sora was keeping him quite busy, asking about his intentions with you. He assured me he'd wait as long as it took for you to wake up, so I'm sure he won't mind waiting for you to make yourself presentable." Roxas let out an annoyed huff of breath before pulling himself out of bed and hurrying to make himself presentable for the redheaded sex god waiting for him in his living room.

-----------------------

A/N: Ha. Redheaded Sex God. Axel, personified. You know, it just strikes me as unfair that there aren't real, tangible guys that are gorgeous like Axel. Breaks my heart and makes me wish I lived in the world of Kingdom Hearts. There are some pretty yummy boys hanging around there. Unfortunately, they're all undeniably gay, so maybe I should choose a game with straight guys…like FFVII! My god, Reno is just…there are no words. I'm extremely pathetic.


	7. The Destitute Card

A/N: Heh, writing fanfiction and watching Gravitation on demand. Life doesn't get much better then this. Omigod, Shuichi is adorable and Yuki's an asshole, but god he's pretty…pushing aside the fact that he's animated…Haha, they give warnings as to the content at the beginning and one of them is moral corruption. Makes me giggle.

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 7

Roxas stared at himself in the mirror, his blonde spikes hanging in his face, his teeth freshly brushed. He was ready physically to confront his sort-of boyfriend, mentally not so much. He wasn't sure how much Axel knew or how much he wanted the redhead to know. Still, he couldn't leave him waiting forever. He stared into his own blue eyes in the mirror and took a deep breath. He couldn't stay in the bathroom forever. Taking another deep breath, as if he were entering a battlefield rather then his own hallway, he opened the bathroom door and stepped out.

The cool air was freezing against the bare skin of his chest. He didn't like to put a shirt on right after he showered because the back of the shirt would get wet and that bothered him, so he usually just put on his boxers and a pair of jeans and waited for his hair to dry before donning a shirt. He'd acted on autopilot when heading for the bathroom, so he hadn't taken a moment to think that he would be seen by just his family and maybe Zexion, who was basically family anyway. The problem was fixed easily enough, considering his room was right across the hall, but he was still fucking cold.

He opened his door, hardly sparing a glance at the second person in the room, assuming it was Zexion. That is, until said person spoke.

"Damn, Roxy. Are you trying to seduce me? Because it's working."

He whipped around, possibly faster then he'd ever moved in his entire life. Axel stood in front of him, his eyes shamelessly sweeping over Roxas' frame, tongue darting out to lick his lips, but only for a moment. Roxas wondered if he should worry about Axel eating him.

"Who knew you were so built underneath those baggy clothes?" He took another step forward and Roxas instinctually took a step back, a small thrill of excitement running up his spine. This little game continued on until Roxas was backed up against the wall, Axel's chest in his face. He licked his lips and swallowed hard, his throat having become rather dry.

"Uh…hey Axel. I didn't know you wer-ermph…" His words were cut off by the redhead's mouth pushing against his, hard but not unpleasant. Axel wasted no time, and soon Roxas was allowing his mouth to be prodded open by a probing tongue. That taste of cigarettes and Big Red gum overtook him, making him sigh wistfully and wrap his arms around the redhead's neck. Axel pulled away and took a breath, his lips brushing lightly against Roxas' as he spoke.

"You're fucking short, Roxy. We'll have to work on this." He then proceeded to wrap his hands around Roxas' thighs and lift him up to his own height, leaning the blonde's back against the wall and pressing his own body close enough to keep him up without too much effort. Pleased with this new position, Axel continued to ravish his mouth until the door opened and there was a loud cough behind them. They pulled away slowly and Axel backed up a pace, letting Roxas slip back to the ground.

Sora stood at the door looking a mix between disgusted, impressed, and embarrassed.

"I could have lived without seeing that, thanks. Leon told me to come in and make sure you guys weren't doing anything inappropriate and I'm not sure if making out was part of that or if he meant to see if you were having sex. I think he meant sex, but I figured I should probably stop you because it sorta looked like that's where you guys were heading…"

"Sora!" Roxas yelped as Axel started to laugh. "Just…stop. We get it, you split us up, go tell Leon that you've completed your mission." Sora shot his a cheeky grin, saluted, and left the room.

"You're an ass," Roxas informed the hysterical redhead, looking through his pile of clean clothes for a shirt to wear.

"Hey, don't pin this on me!" Axel exclaimed, still sounding incredibly amused. "You were the one who came in here with no shirt on and your jeans all low on your hips. You were practically begging for me to molest you."

"I didn't even know you were in here until you were right there practically attacking me!" Roxas argued back.

"Why the hell do you even have to wear your pants so low! You're already so damn molestable it hurts, do you have to be slutty about it?" Axel demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes as if Roxas had committed a federal crime. Roxas glowered back, refusing to back down from the challenge.

"My fucking belt broke a month ago and I've lost a lot of weight because I haven't been able to eat as much as I should. They just don't fucking fit right anymore." Yeah. He pulled the destitute card. It was low, but Axel suddenly looked remorseful and he gloated with his victory. The redhead sighed and let his arms fall to his sides.

"Sorry Roxas. I didn't actually mean that you were a slut. I was just teasing you because you're cute when you get all indignant."

Roxas took a moment to think of a reply to that. Coming up with nothing, he muttered, "I'm not cute."

Axel laughed and wrapped an arm around Roxas' shoulders, the blonde automatically pressing against him without a thought.

"Let's go meet your brother, why don't we? Is he going to give me the speech?"

"The speech?" Roxas repeated dumbly.

"Yeah, you know…the one that dads usually give their daughter's boyfriend when they first meet?"

"Are we?" Roxas asked, looking up at the redhead. "I mean, like, boyfriends?"

Axel grinned and squeezed him lightly with the arm around his shoulders. "If you want to be," he said simply.

"Oh. Okay…then…I guess we are." The grin grew and Axel swooped down and kissed him lightly once more.

"Good. I was hoping you'd say that." Axel led them out of the room, heading back toward the living room. Roxas, being held to the redhead's side had no choice but to accompany him. He almost regretted not pulling away when he caught the expression on Leon's face. He looked a mix between excited, startled, and apprehensive. It was a dangerous mix.

"So…you're Axel," Leon said, his voice sounding neutral.

"Yes. Yes I am."

Roxas wasn't quite sure what to do. He could see Leon's eyes resting at the point where Axel held him, but he didn't want to move away. Having Axel hold him was comforting.

"Hey Roxas, do me a favor and go help Naminé with her math homework. She said the parabolas were beating the hell out of her but I couldn't remember how to do it…"

"Or you're just trying to get me out of the room so you can interrogate my boyfriend while I'm gone," Roxas snorted.

"You are absolutely right. Go away." Roxas rolled his eyes, slipped out from under Axel's arm and headed back to Naminé's room. He knocked on the door and Naminé opened it, grinning up at him as if she knew exactly what was going on. When Roxas entered, he saw that Sora, Riku, and Zexion were all there as well.

"So, do I have to pretend that I don't understand parabolas or did you see right through Leon's little scheme?"

"Go ahead and do your homework while I try to remember what the hell a parabola is," Roxas sighed. Naminé giggled and reached into her knapsack, pulling out her sketchbook and a pencil.

"I finished my homework before the teacher actually assigned it. Leon just wanted me to lie to you even though I told him you wouldn't be stupid enough to fall for it." With that being said, she flopped on her bed between Sora and Riku, the latter looking a bit disgruntled. Larxene's guess about them being future family flashed through his mind and he figured Larxene was wrong about one thing. Riku was most certainly already family. Not knowing what else to do, Roxas sighed and took a seat next to Zexion, substantially making sure there was absolutely no room left on the mattress.

Leon stood up as soon as they heard the door close down the hall. He frowned at the redhead, though he wasn't sure whether it was because he was the new boyfriend or because he was still a whole head taller then the brunet.

"Sit," he growled, gesturing to the couch. Ah, so it was the height. Axel dropped onto the couch, almost wincing as he realized it was a pullout bed due to the hard springs under him.

"Okay, kid, I'm gonna let you know something right now…"

Axel decided to ignore the kid comment. For now.

"Roxas has enough shit to deal with without someone fucking with his feelings, so if you're here to do that you can just get the hell out right now." Axel stayed put on the couch, watching the fuming older brother in interest. He was actually worried about Roxas, not just trying to sound intimidating for his own sake. That was out of the ordinary.

"I'm not interested in fucking with Roxas' feelings," Axel said, staring at Leon unflinchingly. The brunet seemed to believe him and nodded.

"Hm…Do you have any addictions? Be honest because I'll know if you're lying." Axel blinked at this question, unsure if that was normal or Leon was just weird. Still, he figured he better not push things too far, so he answered.

"Yup. Cigarettes and Gatorade." This stopped him for a moment, an eyebrow quirking in curiosity.

"Gatorade?"

"The orange kind," Axel confirmed with a nod, enjoying the brunet's moment of shock. "Oh. And Big Red gum…"

"Right…" Leon trailed off for a moment before returning with a vengeance. "So…I've basically decided that I hate your piercings."

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is. What if I told you that you couldn't see my brother if you didn't take them out?"

Was this guy serious? "I'd leave them in and see Roxas anyway. He's eighteen; he can make his own decisions. I'm not worried about you liking me, just Roxas." As if by magic, Leon's face split into a grin.

"That's what I want to hear. You're not a pushover, I can respect that. You take good care of my brother, all right?"

Axel snorted, trying not to show how disoriented he was by this change of conversation. "Good luck with that. Roxas doesn't let people take care of him. He hates charity, did you know?"

Leon grunted. "Yeah, I know. Do it anyway. If he'll let anyone do it, I think it'll be you. I have a good feeling about this." Pleased with the blessing, Axel watched in curiosity as Leon crossed over to a cabinet across the room and unlocked it. He pulled out the biggest fucking sword Axel had ever seen, complete with a trigger at the hilt. It was a gunblade, something the redhead had only ever read about.

"Like I said, I have a good feeling about this. On the other hand, if you ever hurt my brother in any way, I know how to use this extremely well."

Axel nodded, eyes never leaving the wicked looking blade.

"Oh my god, Leon, really? You're threatening him? Put that thing away!" Roxas had made his reappearance and was now hurrying toward his older brother, waving his arms in the air like a crazy man. "I'll never forgive you if you scare him away!"

Axel choked back a laugh as he watched the brothers, Roxas yelling and Leon placing a hand firmly on the blonde's forehead to keep him an arm's length away.

Roxas scowled up at his older brother, annoyed by the hand planted on his forehead.

"Dammit, Leon, don't do that!" he snarled. He paused when he heard someone clearing their throat, suddenly remembering his newly appointed boyfriend still sitting on the couch.

"Oh shit, sorry Ax," he sighed, the nickname slipping out naturally as if he'd called the redhead that hundreds of times before.

"I…uh, well, I actually wanted to talk to you, both of you, about something."

This caught their attention, causing the brothers to separate completely and look at him. He looked a little nervous, as if he might regret what he was about to say, but his eyes were determined.

"I…heard you talking to Zexion earlier," he said to Leon. "About the issue with paying your rent…"

Roxas' stomach dropped, having a vague suspicion where Axel was going with this. "I guess I don't really know you, any of you, all that well yet, but from what I can tell you're a really close family."

Leon nodded, his arms coming to cross tightly over his chest.

"The thing is, I really wouldn't want to see you guys get split up…I don't think you could survive it…so I have a proposition for you…"

"No!" Roxas said loudly, cutting his boyfriend off in the middle of his sentence. "Absolutely not. There is no fucking way that I'm letting you pay our rent…"

"It wouldn't be a permanent thing, Rox," Axel said imploringly. "It would be like…a loan. From the Bank of Axel. I give you what you need to pay your rent when you need it, which is now, and you can pay me back when you can…"

"That's not the way a bank works," Roxas said coldly. "Banks have set plans with how much you pay back in a given time…"

Axel threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "Fine, then! Set up a goddamn plan to pay me back, I don't care! We can work out the details until your brain oozes from your ears if you want."

"Dammit Axel, you can't just pay our rent for us! It's six hundred dollars and I only have half…"

"Roxas," Axel interrupted, speaking loudly. "My dad is a multi-billionaire. I have more money then I'll ever be able to use in six lifetimes, just rotting away in the bank. If I can use it to help someone that I care about, why shouldn't I?"

"Because, Axel! I told you, I can't just take charity, I wouldn't feel right taking your money…"

His voice died in his throat as Leon let out a deep sigh and stepped forward, speaking loudly over Roxas' hysterical explanation.

"Okay. I can work with a loan." Axel tore his eyes away from Roxas' burning eyes, looking at Leon for a long time before he nodded.

"All right then. I'll go grab my checkbook from the car. I'll be back in a sec." He made his exit, leaving the blonde to stare at his brother incredulously.

"Leon!" Roxas exclaimed.

"Shut up, Roxas," Leon said quietly, yet firmly at the same time.

"But Leon…"

"Roxas!" The blonde fell silent at the sound of his brother's raised voice. "I know that this is against your moral code, that's why I'm making the decision here. I'm the one taking the money, not you." His eyes fell closed and he let out a deep breath through his nose, rubbing his temples. "I made a commitment to you and to myself that, if anything, I would do whatever it took to make sure we never got split up. If that means I have to lose a little dignity and borrow some money, then that's what I'll do."

Axel reentered the house, checkbook in hand. He flopped down on the couch, balancing the book on his knees, scrawling in surprisingly neat hand.

"Who do I make it out to?" he asked, a hand flashing up to unconsciously push his hair out of his eyes. As Leon told Axel how to spell their landlord's name, Roxas watched them from across the room. He could sort of understand why Leon had done what he did, but he still couldn't help but hate the fact that he had. He loved his siblings, but it just felt wrong to take money from someone. Almost as if he was taking advantage. Unable to listen to them discuss payment options, he shook his head and made his way back to his bedroom, flopping down on the mattress, unsure why he was so annoyed. Maybe it was the simple fact that he didn't like charity, no matter who took it. Maybe it was the fact that he actually needed charity. Either way, he wasn't in the best of moods.

It only worsened when there was a soft knock on the door a few minutes later and then Axel poked his head in, looking uncertain.

"Roxas, can I come in?" The blonde waved his hand in a 'do-what-you-will' manner, refusing to look away from the particularly interesting patch of wall his eyes were focused on. Axel crouched down next to him, peering at the blonde with his peculiar eyes.

"Roxas…I don't really know what to say. I'm not sorry for making the offer or writing the check…but I am sorry that you're mad at me for it." Roxas didn't say anything and he could see the redhead shaking his head out of his peripheral vision.

"All right, I get it. I'll just see you later then, I guess."

Roxas felt guilty instantly, his hand snatching out and grabbing Axel's arm as he made to stand. The redhead looked surprised, allowing Roxas to pull him down onto the mattress next to him. As soon as he was in a good enough position, Roxas wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist, resting his head against his chest and closing his eyes. Axel's arms came around him, holding him close, making his entire body warm up almost instantly. He hadn't even realized he was cold until he felt Axel's warmth.

"I'm sorry for being such a brat," he said softly. "I should be thanking you."

Axel shook his head, bringing a hand up to stroke through Roxas' hair soothingly.

"Don't worry about it, Roxy. I just want you to be happy, okay?"

It was strange, but Roxas was vaguely happy. Just lying on his bed with Axel holding onto him and he was perfectly content with life, if only for that moment.

----------------

A/N: Omygod, that chapter took forever to get out. You wanna know how long? I'll give you the vague idea. It's 5:28 am and I haven't slept yet. Well, I've basically become incoherent and I'm tired as hell, so I won't say much. Review.


	8. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

A/N: Dudes, check it out...I got a Kingdom Hearts necklace for Christmas. It's a keyblade....:D

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 8

They stayed lying down for nearly an hour before Axel's cell phone rang. He let out a small sigh, his arm leaving Roxas and snaking down into his pocket. When he answered his cell phone, Roxas could feel the redhead's breath against his neck as he spoke.

"Oh…yeah, hi dad. What's up? No, it's just…no…just that you never call me unless something is wrong. Is mom okay? What about Reno and Kairi? Everything is fine…? Then…I don't get it…" He fell silent for a long time and Roxas could hear the small sound of a voice talking through the phone.

"Oh…really? I mean…well, it's just unusual, dad. I'm not complaining or anything…okay, okay, I'll be home soon. Hey…can I bring a friend? Yup…yeah, that's where I am right now. No, it's not Demyx. A new friend, you haven't met him yet…yes, dad. No. Yes. Yeah…give me about half an hour…I'm across town. Yes dad, all the way across town. Dad, that's mean. Yeah, okay. Okay, goodbye. Goodbye!" He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.

"Want to come to my house for dinner with my delightfully insane family?"

"Uh…dinner? With your family?"

"Uh, yeah," Axel answered, nuzzling his face back into Roxas' neck, his breath hot and tickling against the skin. "My dad is never really home, like, at all. He has the night off tonight and my ma got all excited and she wants us to have a family dinner."

"So why would you invite me?" Roxas asked, confused. "If it's a family thing?"

Axel sighed and tightened his arms around the blonde. "My dad said it was fine and I would probably die if I was forced to deal with my whole family at the same time all by myself. Please, Roxy? Come with me." Roxas sighed and nodded.

"Okay. I'll come."

"Great!" Axel pulled himself up into a sitting position and pulled Roxas after him. "We have to leave right now, though, cause they're expecting me in like, half an hour." Roxas nodded. "You go ahead out, then. I've got to talk to Leon, all right?" Axel nodded, kissing his cheek and setting off outside.

Roxas located his brother in the kitchen, staring at a slip of paper, which Roxas assumed was Axel's check.

"Hey. I'm gonna go hang out at Axel's house tonight. I don't know what time I'll be home so don't chain the door, please." Leon nodded and sighed.

"I think I'm going to send Naminé and Sora home with Zexion, if he can take them," Leon said. Roxas nodded, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the thought that his brother might not eat that night. He went out to Axel's truck, staying silent as the redhead began to drive.

It was strange how comfortable he was with Axel after only knowing him for such a short while. They'd only met three days before and Axel was already claiming that he cared for Roxas and Roxas knew that he cared for Axel. They were dating and they hardly knew each other. Still, there was just…something about Axel that made him want to keep the redhead around. It was an inexplicable feeling, but Roxas liked it.

"Hey would you reach into the glove compartment and grab me a cigarette?"

"Only if I can have one, too," Roxas asked, already searching for the cigarettes.

"Sure, go ahead." When Roxas finally located the cigarettes, he shook two out and threw the rest of the pack back in the glove compartment. Axel held out a hand, flame dancing on his palm, eyes never leaving the road. Slightly perturbed, Roxas lit the cigarettes on the flame, handing one to Axel. They were quiet again for a long time, being all the way in North Twilight Town where the rich half lived before Axel spoke again.

"Roxy…uh…can you do me a favor? Now, don't get offended or anything, but we shouldn't mention…us in front of my dad," he said quietly.

Roxas nodded. "Sure. Your dad is really homophobic, right?"

Axel nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, he is. Thanks for understanding Roxy."

The blonde let out a dull laugh. "I've been dealing with homophobic assholes for years, Ax. I've almost perfected it to an art." Roxas took a drag on his cigarette, his lungs feeling great relief after going so long without a cigarette. He figured he should quit, but thinking about all the time it would take, not to mention the headaches and sickness he acquired after too long without nicotine, it really didn't seem worth it.

Axel turned onto a street holding the biggest house he'd ever seen. Quite literally, the house took up the entire block all by itself. It was made of white brick with pillars up the front. There had to be at least a hundred windows lining the front edifice. A large expanse of perfectly green lawn stretched in front of the house, with a perfectly manicured garden pressed up against the front of the house. A high black iron fence, the front gate having a guard station to one side, surrounded the place. A long driveway led up to circle around the side of the house, so Roxas assumed that the front door was hardly ever used.

He was well aware that his jaw was hanging open, but he couldn't unfreeze himself to close his mouth. When he was finally able to speak he muttered, "So…this is how the other half lives."

Axel let out a laugh that didn't sound very amused as he pulled up to the guardhouse, waving to the man sitting inside as the gate swung inward, admitting them to the mansion that, in Roxas' opinion, greatly resembled the White House in Washington DC.

"It's a bit melodramatic, isn't it? My dad thinks it shows power. I think it makes us look like arrogant pricks," Axel snorted, sounding disgusted. They reached the top of the driveway and rounded the house. Roxas could now see that the driveway led to a garage bigger then his house, the same pristine white as the mansion looming to the side of them.

"Okay," Axel sighed as he pulled into a space in the garage. "Here's the lowdown. My dad is a prick and he doesn't like people having their own opinions. He's just rude enough to most likely ignore you, but if he actually does acknowledge your presence, try to stay polite and don't lose your cool. I can't tell you how many times Demyx has been escorted off the premises because my dad doesn't like him. My ma is kind of a docile lamb. She'll be the redhead sitting to the right of my father, nodding her head and smiling, jumping when he says jump. Kairi is, if not a nagging little bitch, mostly a sweet kid. I think she's about Sora's age. Reno…" Axel sighed and shook his head, but Roxas could see the amused smirk on his lips. "Reno is a piece of work, to put it simply. He's annoying as hell, but he's wicked funny and sarcastic though, so you shouldn't mind him too much. You got all that?"

Roxas thought for a second and summarized. "Your dad's an asshole, your mom is passive, Kairi's a bratty preteen, and Reno is an idiot."

Axel grinned.

"Perfect! I knew you'd get it, Roxy," he let out a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. "Well…let's go. I'm only prolonging the inevitable." Roxas chewed his bottom lip uncertainly.

"Is it going to be that bad, Ax?" The redhead let out another hollow laugh.

"Right now, there really is no saying. It all depends on the variables. We'll just have to see…and hopefully you'll still want me around when this is over." They were silent for a moment, before Roxas looked at his boyfriend in confusion.

"Why did you invite me, if you're so worried?" Axel laughed and shrugged.

"I don't know. Moment of insanity, I guess. Still…I'm glad you're here, Roxy."

Roxas smiled at him, hoping it looked more confident then he felt. They got out of the truck and headed up the path to the side door of the house. Roxas had to resist the urge to crane his neck back to find the top.

"So…how many rooms are in this place anyway?" he asked as Axel let them in through the side door.

"I couldn't tell you, Roxy. In fact, I've only ever been in a few of them. I try not to go to places I don't recognize. I'd get lost."

Roxas snorted. "There's something wrong when you could potentially get lost in your own house."

"Ain't that the truth." As soon as the door opened, a man in a suit converged upon them.

"Hello Axel, welcome home," he greeted. "Who is your friend?"

"Hey Tom," he greeted with a small smile. "This is Roxas."

"Nice to meet you, Roxas." He held out his arm as if offering it to a woman and Roxas looked at him in confusion.

"Give him your jacket, Roxas," Axel instructed with a small laugh, depositing his own leather jacket over the man's arm and dropping his car keys in Tom's hand.

"Your family is waiting in the formal dining room," Tom informed them, making his way away with their jackets and Axel's keys.

"Hey, uh…Axel…is it really all that hard to hang up your own jacket and keys?" Roxas asked.

"No, Roxy, it isn't. But it's Tom's job and he gets paid a lot of friggen money to do it, so I figure he might as well do what he's getting paid for."

"And…what did he mean, formal dining room?"

"He meant that we were eating in the formal dining room instead of the regular one."

"You…have two dining rooms?" Roxas asked in a moment of shock.

"And three living rooms, two dens, a bajillion bedrooms, ten bathrooms…should I go on? Really, Roxy, you saw the outside of the house. I'd say at least ten families could comfortably live in this house. It's all over the top and obnoxious."

"Yeah, I guess so."

They came upon a large pair of double doors placed in the very center of the hallway.

"Prepare yourself Roxy. My family lies just beyond these doors."

Axel himself took a long breath and rearranged his face. He suddenly looked detached and disinterested. Almost as if he were unbearably bored.

"Show no emotion, Roxas, and we might survive the night," were his last instructions before he opened the doors in a sweeping stroke.

---------------------

A/N: Does anyone understand the chapter title? If you do, tell me in a review! If you don't, ask me (in a review!) and I'll let you know.


	9. Dinner

A/N: Sorry about the 'tell me what the chapter name means!' thing I did...because when I was posting I couldn't remember what I'd decided to call it because I didn't have the page where I write all the chapter names down with me. So I just left it default, scrolled down, read the challenge...and then left it there. I realized what I did a few hours later and I felt extremely stupid. On the other hand, there is a vast amount of you who actually read my AN's. I was shocked.

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 9

The very first thing he noticed was a gigantic chandelier, made of crystal and holding real candles, all unlit. As Roxas stared, they all lit up at the same moment, almost blinding him in his shock. Axel shot him a look out of the corner of his eye and Roxas realized he was the reason behind the pyrotechnics. Apparently, he could suspend fire farther then his own body.

The room was huge, the walls lined with priceless paintings and there was even a suit of armor in one corner. Off to one side was a pair of double doors, through which a maid with a tray appeared. Roxas assumed it led to the kitchen. In the direct center of the room was a big, beautiful table made of a dark colored wood and covered with a white lace tablecloth.

Roxas was immediately self-conscious and nervous. He'd never dealt with such splendor before and he wasn't exactly sure how he should act. He didn't really have a chance to warn Axel or anything, as the redhead was already setting off toward the table. He walked quickly to catch up, assessing the people at the table. The man sitting at the head of said table was tall, even sitting down, and it was quite obvious where Axel had gotten his height. He had short gray hair and sat regally and straight in his chair, regarding Axel with a look that Roxas didn't really understand. To his right was a small woman with crimson hair, the same as Axel's. Her eyes were trained on the tablecloth and a soft smile rested on her lips, as if it were a permanent accessory. Next to her sat a girl with deeper red hair, more like wine then Axel's shocking crimson. She had big blue eyes and a slightly amused look on her face, as if she knew something the rest of the world didn't. Sitting at the opposite end of the table was a male that looked astoundingly like Axel. He wore his hair long, held back in a loose ponytail, his long bangs hanging in his face. His eyes were the same blue as Kairi's and Roxas found himself wondering where Axel's vivid green came from. Under his eyes, he too had tattoos, though his were red swooshes instead of black diamonds.

"Uh, hey guys," Axel greeted with a wave, directing Roxas around the table, taking the seat to the left of his father. Roxas took the final chair, between Axel and who he assumed was Reno, aware that every eye was on him. "This is Roxas. Roxas, this'…well, my family." He received a murmured greeting and gave one in return. They were quiet for a moment and Roxas felt extremely awkward before Axel's dad spoke up.

"Boys…I really must protest about this hair. I understand a little teenage rebellion, but this is really getting out of hand. You've already ruined any chance at having a professional façade with those damned tattoos on your faces…"

Roxas suspected this conversation happened often by the way Axel rolled his eyes and Reno leaned back his chair and sighed.

"Dad, I'm already set for life, I don't see what it matters what I look like…"

"Reno, I hardly think working as a thug doing Rufus Shinra's dirty work is being, as you so put it, 'set for life'. Honestly, how far do you really think that's going to take you?"

"It's his life, dad," Axel cut in. "Let him live it the way he wants to…" The brothers shared a brief look, almost as if they were communicating through it. Roxas had seen Sora and Naminé do it many times before and he wondered exactly how close Axel and Reno were.

"Axel, I don't believe I was talking to you. You will remain silent and not speak unless spoken to, is that understood?"

Axel gave a sharp nod, stabbing his fork petulantly into the steak a maid had just placed before him.

"Answer me, Axel!"

"Yes, sir!" Axel ground out, not looking away from his plate. Roxas, feeling awkward and out of place, stared straight ahead.

The rest of dinner passed very much the same and Roxas found himself almost relived when it was over. No one at the table dared to speak against Axel's father, but they made it through dinner unscathed. About an hour after they'd arrived, Roxas was more full then he'd ever been in his life and Axel had managed to make his escape. He led Roxas out of the room, up a staircase, and down a few hallways before opening a door and ushering inside.

The room was huge, bigger then Roxas' and Naminé's rooms combined. The walls were painted a brilliant red color with white trim. A king size bed was pushed against one wall, done up with black sheets and a red and black checkered quilt with band logos sewn on. Black lights and lights shaped like spiders were wrapped along the headboard, plugged in so they cast a small amount of light around. Directly next to the door was a black desk with a laptop sitting on it and a desk lamp and alarm clock on either side of it. The shelf sitting above it held a complicated looking stereo system that was connected to four different speakers. CDs were shelved between the speakers. Across the room from the desk was a gigantic trunk set under the window with a black pillow top spread across it to make it like a window seat. Next to that was a gigantic white bookcase that took up the rest of the wall, stuffed with books and knickknacks of every sort. Various band posters were spread across the room and the only part of the closet door that could be seen was the doorknob, due to the rest of it being covered in a collage of pictures. The floor was covered in a plush black carpet. Roxas suspected that, if he were to lie on it, the carpet would be more comfortable then his own bed.

"So?" Axel asked with a grin. "What do you think? I tried to keep it from getting too gaudy and I think I restrained myself quite well, don't you?"

"It's nice," Roxas agreed. "Very you…a lot cleaner then I would have expected."

Axel laughed, ruffling Roxas' hair, which caused the blonde to scowl at him in annoyance. "Yeah, I know. If I had my way it would never get clean, but those damn maids always break in and clean it all up when I'm not home." Axel shut the door firmly behind him, revealing a large Green Day poster stuck to the back of it, and flicked the lock. Roxas hardly had anytime to make a comment on it before Axel was across the room, pushing him gently back until he hit the bed with a soft thump.

"Axel?" he questioned breathlessly as the redhead grinned down at him. Roxas licked his lips, his throat going dry and heart beating faster as Axel looked at him as if he were on the hunt. The redhead latched his hands under Roxas' thighs and lifted him onto the bed, sitting him down. The bed was so high off the ground they were almost face to face. His hands came up and cradled Roxas' face and he leaned forward, their lips meeting in a soft kiss. For about two seconds.

A trapdoor in the ceiling slammed open, causing them both to jump a mile and spin in the direction of the noise. Reno's head was popped out of the hole, his long red ponytail hanging straight down as he looked at them in upside down amusement.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed excitedly, his head disappearing and a rope ladder appearing in its place. A moment later he was climbing down and into the room, staring at them with a self-satisfied expression on his face. Roxas had seen the very same look on Axel's face. It was a bit unnerving, really. Axel, on the other hand, looked extremely annoyed. Roxas was still too impressed by the trapdoor in the ceiling to have any other thought process then, 'WOW!'

"Dammit Reno!" was all Axel could say as Reno approached the pair and poked Axel in the center of his forehead.

"I knew he was more then a friend, this is the same kid you've been pining over for _years_!"

Axel rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Great job, Reno," he muttered sarcastically. "You're a super-sleuth." Roxas was still amazed by the other redhead's sudden appearance.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, finally gathering his bearings.

Axel and Reno exchanged a look before they looked at Roxas.

"What, the trap door?" they asked at the same time, their voices blending together almost perfectly. Roxas hadn't noticed until that moment that the pair had basically the same voice, though Axel's was a little bit higher then Reno's.

"Um…yeah," Roxas said, a little disoriented by the stereo speech.

"Oh…when our rooms were being remolded…" Axel started.

"We paid the builder dude to put in a trapdoor so our rooms could be connected," Reno finished.

"We wanted to be able to see each other whenever we felt the urge, ya know? No one else in the house knows its there."

"The dude hid it really well," Reno added.

It took Roxas a moment to realize he was swiveling his head between the brothers as they spoke, back and forth as they finished each other's sentences or spoke a soliloquy between the two of them. It was fucking weird. They were silent for a long moment before something else Reno said surfaced in his mind.

"Wait a sec…Ax, what did he mean about you liking me for years? I thought you just found out you were gay…?"

Axel's eyes widened in panic, but Reno just snorted and kept talking.

"Are you kidding? Yeah the hell right. He's been whining about you to me since, what seventh grade? Yeah, seventh grade. He'd come to my room and be all like, 'Oh Reno, I'm in love with another guy what do I dooooo?'. I kept telling him to ask you out 'cause rumor on the street was that you were gay but he totally wasn't believing me. He was like, 'No, he can't be 'cause that would just be too easy and if I say something he'll hate me forever and I can't deal with that 'cause I LOOOOOVE HIM!'. But yeah, I definitely told him…"

"Reno, shut the hell up!" Axel growled, clamping a hand over his brother's mouth, quickly releasing with a look of disgust on his face.

"You licked me, you bastard!"

"Don't restrain my freedom to speech!" Reno retorted.

"Just because you have the freedom to talk doesn't mean you should!"

"Are you saying I talk too much? That hurts, Ax. It cuts me deep, right here." Reno placed a hand over his heart, his eyes going wide and looking deceivingly innocent, pouting a little bit.

Roxas' mind, meanwhile, was reeling. Axel had liked Roxas for years. Axel…had already accepted he was gay. Axel had told him that he wasn't sure…Axel had lied to him. From the very moment they first met, Axel had lied to him? Was it a big enough lie for him to get truly angry, or was it just something stupid that he could easily get over? Axel had lied to get Roxas to kiss him, but then again Roxas had quite enjoyed kissing Axel. That little lie had spurred their entire relationship, so could Roxas really be mad at that? It surely did explain a lot. Why Axel had adapted to the thought so quickly, for one. But then again, it didn't explain how none of his friends had known. Maybe he just hadn't come out to anyone except Reno?

"Roxy, I can explain, I really can!" Looking at the desperate panicked look on Axel's face, he couldn't stay angry. Sure Axel had lied, but it had only been a tiny little lie and there hadn't been any bad repercussions. Still, though, he had questions that needed to be answered.

"You go ahead and explain, Ax. I'm listening." He leaned back on his hands, watching his boyfriend with a slightly cocked eyebrow. Axel looked as if he wasn't sure whether or not he was in trouble, but he started talking anyway.

"Well, like Reno said, I've sorta…liked you for a long time…"

"Since we were thirteen," Reno piped up, causing Axel to shoot a glare at his brother.

"Anyway, I was never really sure what to do about it, ya know, cause my dad is such a douche and I was sorta scared to mention it to anyone, so I just didn't. Reno knew, but no one else."

Roxas regarded the redheads, Reno looking a mix between amused and a tiny bit guilty and Axel having that same guilty look written on his own face.

"Anyway, I sort of just tried to ignore it over the years. I don't really know why. I guess it was just because the longer I delayed the more convinced I became that you would turn me down…"

"He's an emotional train wreck most of the time," Reno informed Roxas, laughing as Axel growled and pushed him away.

"Then three days ago I walk into detention and there you are. It was like a sign from God or something. I didn't know what else to do, so I called Reno. We sorta had a code set up for when I was talking about you in public, so I used that." Roxas had a fleeting memory of Axel talking about yellow cactuses. If that was a stab at his hair, the brothers would pay. "He told me to talk to you but you didn't see interested and I panicked…so I just…well…I lied. That night I called Demyx and told him and the next day I came out to the rest of my friends."

Roxas didn't move, watching Axel. The redhead didn't appear to have anything else to say and Reno was watching the both of them as if they were a particularly interesting soap opera. Finally, Roxas lifted his shoulders in a shrug.

"Hey, whatever works," he said nonchalantly. Axel grinned, looking a lot more confident in himself until Roxas held up one finger in a signal to wait a moment. "On the other hand, if you ever lie to me again I won't be so forgiving."

Axel nodded to show he understood before leaning in and kissing Roxas once more. Roxas was slightly aware that Reno was standing right there, but he tried to ignore that. It worked pretty well, too. That is, until Reno started talking.

"Christ, Axel! Spare me, would you? I mean, yeah we're twins, but that doesn't mean we have to share _everything_." Axel growled slightly before pulling away and glaring at Reno.

"Go away, then."

"Wait. You guys are twins?" Axel and Reno both looked at Roxas as if he was an idiot.

"Uh…yeah," Axel said.

"I thought it was kinda obvious," Reno added.

"Well…I don't know. No one told me, so I guess I just thought you had a lot in common."

They both snorted and rolled their eyes.

"You're weird," Reno informed him with a little grin. Having no reply to that, Roxas just waved his hand in a 'what can you do?' gesture. Axel jumped as a buzzing noise sounded and fished his cell phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open, eyes darting across the screen.

"My ma says I have to take you home now, Roxy. You ready?"

Roxas nodded, cocking an eyebrow. "Your mom…texts you?"

"Um…yes," Axel answered as if he thought it was a strange question. Roxas just shook his head. They were definitely from different worlds. Roxas bid Reno goodbye, the redhead promptly disappearing up the ladder, and they set off back downstairs. Roxas tried to memorize the path to Axel's room, but somewhere around the tenth turn he forgot. He quickly concluded that he should never explore the house by himself, lest he be lost for the rest of his life.

The ride back to Roxas' house was a quiet one, the only noise coming from the radio, which was turned to a low volume. Roxas was slumped in his seat, his forehead resting against the window, watching the street flash by quickly.

"I'm sorry about my family, Roxy. At least now you'll understand when I complain about them, huh?" Axel asked half-heartedly as they pulled up in front of Roxas' house.

Roxas laughed and smiled at his boyfriend. "Yeah, there's the bright side." He reached for the door handle, but Axel's hand on his arm made him stop. The redhead reached into the small storage space behind his seat and handed Roxas a plastic bag. Peering inside, he saw tinfoil. Axel must have caught his confused expression because he said quietly, "It's the leftovers from dinner. I figured you could give it to Leon." Roxas' heart seized and he looked up at his boyfriend, just wanting to hug him. Instead, he said, "You're so sweet."

Axel laughed and waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't tell anyone. It'll ruin my reputation." Roxas leaned across the center console of the car and kissed Axel sweetly.

"Thank you," he said, allowing Axel to kiss him once more before getting out of the car. He was surprised when Axel got out of the car as well, coming with him up to the front door and inside when Roxas unlocked the door. Trying to keep from even thinking mushy thoughts, Roxas set off to find Leon.

He located his brother at the kitchen table, sorting through a pile of bills. He sighed, knowing that, despite Axel's help, things would just continue to go down hill for them. He set the bag on the table next to Leon, heading to the cupboard to grab a glass for some water.

"What's this?" Leon asked distractedly, looking at the bag.

"Oh, uh, that's some leftovers. From dinner at Axel's. He got the maid to wrap some up for you," Roxas explained. Axel flushed slightly, running a hand through his hair as if embarrassed.

"Oh…thanks. Thanks a lot." Leon looked slightly surprised, but cleared the bills out of the way and pulled out the food. Roxas handed his brother some silverware, turning to look at Axel as the brunet dug in, trying not to look to eager. Roxas wondered how long it had been since he'd last eaten something.

Axel was frowning at his cell phone and then he typed something in. The frown deepened and he sighed, shutting the phone and shoving it in his pocket.

"What's wrong?" Roxas asked in concern.

"Oh…uh, that was Reno. He was warning me not to come home tonight. Apparently things…aren't too good there right now. My parents, you know…"

Roxas nodded in understanding and even Leon looked up from his food, his gray eyes studying Axel for a long moment. The blonde momentarily wondered if it had anything to do with him being there that night before deciding he was far too self-absorbed for his own good.

"You want to stay here?" Roxas asked. Axel's eyes glinted for a moment, but it disappeared instantly when Leon's head snapped up again. "That's all right, isn't it?" Roxas added as an afterthought.

Leon stared at Roxas as if he were stupid. "I don't know, Rox. Something tells me it's a bad idea to let two hormone driven teenagers in a relationship sleep in the same room together."

Roxas rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "Please, Squall. I share a room with Sora. What could we possibly do?"

Leon seemed to realize the sense in this, so he nodded.

"Yeah, all right, fine. Just…don't do anything I would kill you for." Roxas saluted him sarcastically before turning back to Axel.

"So?" he asked the redhead. Axel grinned and nodded.

"Thanks a lot, Roxy, Leon."

Roxas slept that night curled up in Axel's arms, lulled to sleep by the smell of wood smoke and the sound of deep breaths in his ear.

------------

A/N: *victory dance* Dudes, that was a long chapter for me. I'm so proud of myself. That is eight Word pages, bay-bee! I know that isn't really a lot, but it's really good for me. Yeah…so I based Axel's bedroom off my own. It's exactly the same except that his is bigger then mine…and I don't have a trapdoor in my ceiling…and my room is really freaking messy. Anyways…thanks for reading. Review.


	10. A Journey into the Land of Filler

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 10

When Roxas woke up, he was incredibly warm. It was a pleasant sensation, almost as if he were sitting in front of a giant bonfire. He snuggled into the source of the heat, burying his face against the chest in front of him, ready to fall back asleep. This, however, was not to be, as in the next moment the door burst open and Sora rushed in, screaming his head off.

"Roxas! Roxas, it's snowing! Roxas it's the first snow of the year!" The brunet jumped on top of the pair, shaking Roxas excitedly, making the blonde groan and Axel moan tiredly, "I hate the fuckin' snow."

"Sora, go 'way," Roxas mumbled. "Snow is cold and I'm really warm…"

Sora paused, frowning. "You're right. It is really warm in here. That's weird. 'Cause, I mean, it's not like we have a heater or anything…" he trailed off for a moment, in which Roxas tried to fall back asleep. "Well…anyway, it's time to get up for school or you'll both be late. Leon said I had to do it by any means necessary. I thought you ought to know that I have a bucket full of snow right outside the bedroom door…"

Axel sat up quickly, yanking Roxas up with him, as he forgot to release the blonde in his movements. "Don't you even dare," he snarled, rubbing a hand over his face and wiping the sleep from his eyes. He yawned a moment later, which really destroyed his angry image. Roxas sighed, loosening Axel's arms from around him before excusing Sora with a wave of his hand.

"We're up Sora. Put the snow back outside," he instructed.

"Okay!" Sora agreed brightly, prancing out of the room, far too awake for Roxas' liking.

"Sorry about him," Roxas muttered. "He's…well, he's kind of a morning person. Axel merely muttered obscenities under his breath while running his hand over his face again.

"You can use the shower first," Roxas offered, stifling a yawn and stretching his arms over his head.

As Axel tiredly went to take a shower, Roxas looked through Leon's closet-also known as the hall closet-for something for the redhead to wear. Leon was shorter then Axel-who wasn't?- but the brunet tended to wear his jeans long, so the bottoms dragged on the ground when he wore them. He hoped they would be long enough for Axel. He hardly spared a glance at the shirts, figuring it would be better for Axel to wear one of his own then having Leon on his case about stealing his clothes. Axel, apparently, took very quick showers, for he came back to Roxas' room about three minutes after Roxas himself. It seemed he literally took only as long as was necessary to get clean before getting out again. When Roxas questioned this, the redhead replied simply, "I don't like water. It makes me steam, which is weird as hell."

Roxas raised both his eyebrows at this, curiosity overtaking him.

"You mean…you, like, literally steam?" Axel nodded as if this were normal, accepting the offered jeans from Roxas. He promptly put them on, leaving Roxas to once more gawk stupidly. Was he seriously going commando…in Leon's jeans?

Axel seemed to realize this at the same time before shrugging.

"Well, it's too late now. I'll replace these…they fit pretty well, and I must say, I look pretty damn sexy."

Roxas groaned and shook his head, now completely distracted. Axel did look extremely sexy with no shirt on, the jeans hanging loose and low on his hips, his wet hair plastered to his neck, his chest covered in water droplets. Roxas suddenly had the insane desire to lick those little drops of water off the redhead's chest. His eyes trailed down Axel's chest, finally coming to rest on the tantalizing line of red hair that led below the waistband of the jeans.

Axel laughed and snapped his finger in front of Roxas' eyes. Roxas lifted his gaze, following Axel's hand as the redhead raised it to his face, finally pointing at his eyes.

"My eyes are up here, mister," the redhead said in an exaggerated lisping voice, causing Roxas to chuckle with embarrassment, turning away in hopes that the redhead wouldn't see him blush. Of course he did, though, and this only prompted him to try and make the blonde blush even more.

"What, Roxy? Tell me you've never gone commando before. If you haven't you really should give it a try. It's a wonderfully free feeling," he teased.

"Why would you do that to me, Ax? Now I'm not gonna be able to look at you all day without thinking about it."

Axel laughed out loud. Before Roxas knew what was happening, Axel's arms had come to wrap tightly around his waist, the redhead leaning his head down until his lips were right next to Roxas' ear, brushing against the lobe as he spoke. "Then you'll be pleased to know that I never wear boxers. The only thing under my jeans is me baby, all the time."

Roxas let out a tortured moan and he could just imagine Axel's grin. He was just about to turn around and show his boyfriend exactly what he thought of that when Sora came bounding into the room again.

"Rox, you have fifteen minutes before we have to go," Sora announced warningly, seemingly aware that Roxas had done nothing at all to ready himself for school. Roxas cussed quietly and reluctantly pulled himself out of Axel's grasp, heading off toward the bathroom so he could take a shower.

Now, if there is one thing to know about Roxas, it's the fact that he simply is incapable of taking a shower in less then ten minutes. Call it magic, science, or lack of willpower on the blonde's part, but it really was just impossible for him. That explained why, twenty minutes later when Roxas rushed out of his bedroom fully dressed with sopping wet hair, the only person he saw was Axel.

The redhead was leaning against the wall, staring into space, green eyes vacant with thought. Roxas took a moment to take an appreciative look, noticing that Axel had helped himself to Roxas' favorite t-shirt. It was black with two large keys crossed on the front surrounded by flames. It wasn't something one often ran into, but he'd found it at the Salvation Army for only two bucks and he'd just felt compelled to buy it. The shirt was really soft and well worn and it had quickly become his favorite. For whatever reason, he liked that Axel was wearing it.

"Did Nami and Sora catch the bus?" he asked, snapping the older teen from his reverie. Axel nodded, absently chewing on his lip ring as they started toward his truck. Roxas was about to ask what was wrong with him when Axel came to a stop and shot him a grin.

"Do you feel that?" he asked as Roxas locked the front door.

"Feel what?" the blonde frowned before he realized what Axel was talking about. "What the heat?" They were standing outside in at least of foot of snow with no jackets on, and Roxas suddenly realized that he was nice and warm as if he were sitting in front of a fire.

"Is that you?" he asked, aghast.

"Yes it is," Axel confessed. "My…temperature runs a lot higher then normal people. That means my body needs to stay warmer then most because I can freeze to death at a higher temperature then everyone else. When I feel cold, my fire forms a wall of warmth around me to compensate for it…or at least that's what the doctor says."

Roxas grinned, stepping closer to his boyfriend to absorb more of the heat. "So you're like a walking space heater."

As Axel nodded the conformation, Roxas suddenly realized why he'd been so warm when he'd woken up that morning.

"Also," Axel said, getting more excited that Roxas was obviously impressed. "Remember when I told you that water makes me steam?" Roxas nodded, think that it was something he'd never forget. "Well, it's only water that's colder then my skin, but it's still pretty annoying."

Axel crouched down and placed his hand on top of the snow. Steam rose up from where his hand touched and in seconds, there was no snow where he'd placed his hand.

Gaping, Roxas thought that he could really get used to something like that. He hated snow and cold, which sort of made Axel his new hero.

"Let's get going, shall we?"

They climbed into the truck and took a relatively quiet ride to school chatting about unimportant things. The entire time, though, Roxas was fretting. What would happen when they got to school? Would they keep their relationship in the open and deal with the assholes together? Or would they just pretend nothing was happening between them and they were just friends. Roxas wasn't quite sure which way he wanted things to go. If they were open about it, Roxas could have a public claim to his boyfriend and he rather liked the sound of that. On the other hand, he wasn't sure he'd be able to deal with all that harassment that was sure to follow. If they were quiet about it, they'd have an easier time with the public but Roxas didn't want to pretend that he and Axel were "just friends".

"-as?" The blonde nearly jumped a mile as he was brought back to reality by Axel's voice.

"Sorry, what?" he asked dazedly.

Axel looked at him strangely before turning off the truck.

"We're here, Roxy."

Oh.

He slid out of the truck, shouldering his bag and joining Axel as he walked towards his group of friends. Halfway across the yard, Axel slipped his hand into Roxas', holding it loosely, allowing Roxas the option to pull his own hand away. Roxas didn't. Instead, he tightened the grip just the slightest bit, taking a deep breath to be ready for any onslaught of nastiness. Much to his surprise, though, no one really seemed to notice. At least not yet.

Axel's friends most certainly did notice, though, and they were met with a fair amount of catcalls as they approached. Roxas was a little bit surprised to see Zexion already there. His silver-haired friend was sitting on one of the benches, facing Demyx with his legs crossed in front of him. Demyx was chattering on cheerfully about something and Zexion was listening with rapt attention, a book lying abandoned in his lap. Roxas smiled inwardly at the pair, knowing it would only be a matter of time before Zexion gave in to his feelings and allowed things to progress between the two. He liked the idea of his friend being happy. If there was anyone in the world who deserved to be happy, it was most definitely Zexion.

They all talked about random stuff until the warning bell rang and their group quickly scattered to head for their respective classes. As Axel ushered him away, Roxas could see Demyx holding Zexion back to talk to him for a moment. He full out grinned and allowed Axel to steer him away, all the while wondering if grilling Zexion for details would be too girly.

Zexion watched the blonde in front of him, wanting to smile at the cute flustered expression he wore.

"So…Zexy…I was wondering if maybe you wanted to, uh, hang out with me today. You could come to my place after school…but only if you want to. I mean, you don't have to but I thought it might be fun…"

"Demyx," Zexion interrupted, finally taking pity on the babbling blonde. "Hanging out sounds…fun. Where should we meet after school?"

For a moment, Zexion thought Demyx was going to explode with happiness.

"How about right here?" Demyx gushed. Zexion barely had enough time to nod before Demyx swooped in and kissed him lightly on the cheek before prancing off to get to class. Zexion could feel the blush spreading over his cheeks as he set off toward homeroom. When he walked into first period five minutes late, he hardly even noticed the disapproving glance from his teacher. The only thing he could focus on for the rest of the day was Demyx.

---------------

A/N: Eh. A bit short, but that's okay. I had a hard time with this chapter even though there really is, like, no point to it. The real reason that this was so hard was because my cat was sitting on my chest while I was writing this. Do you have any idea how hard it is to type with your cat sitting on your arms? Review, please.


	11. Fun Times with Zemyx

A/N: Oh my god. So I've just realized how pathetic my life is...I'm sweet sixteen and never been kissed (that is sad enough on its own) but I just found out that my **younger **sister is pregnant. I've gotta admit, I have absolutely no desire to ever be preggo...but still.

**J****ust wanna take a quick second to explain that the page breaks are separating perspectives between Axel and Roxas and Demyx and Zexion. So just be aware of that, kay?**

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 11

Demyx's house was huge. It wasn't even a normal house. It was actually a mansion. Zexion had to fight to keep the shock from showing on his face and Demyx seemed to remain oblivious to it all. He kept his hand clamped on Zexion's arm, pulling him along until they entered through the front door, instantly being greeted by a brunette woman in a maid's uniform. She couldn't have been more then two years older then them.

"Hi Demyx! Welcome home!" she greeted cheerfully. "Oh, who's your friend?" she asked, smiling at Zexion. He wondered for a moment if she always smiled so much.

"Hi Selphie! This is Zexy, isn't he cute?" Demyx gushed, clutching Zexion's arm like it was a life preserver.

"It's Zexion," he corrected with a small sigh. He didn't so much mind the nickname when Demyx was using it. Anyone else, however, and it wasn't quite so appealing. Selphie was beginning to make him feel unnerved by the way she just seemed so chipper all the time.

"Nice to meet you!" she chirped before turning her attention back to Demyx. "Your parents left for Aruba. They left me in charge of you until they come home, which at this point, there isn't really a clear time on that. They said it should be less then a month. Can I get you boys anything?"

Demyx looked a bit put out by this news, frowning slightly. When he noticed that Zexion was watching him, however, he seemed to cheer right back up.

"All right. Did they leave me a note or anything?" he asked.

"Nope." The answer was a bit blunt and Demyx flinched the tiniest bit. He just shook his head, though, and kept on smiling.

"Okay then. We don't need anything, thanks…unless you're hungry or something, Zexy?"

Zexion shook his head. "No. Thank you." The words had barely passed his lips before Demyx was pulling him out of the entry way and up the stairs. All the while, Zexion couldn't help but think about the unfairness of life. Demyx's parents were rich enough to have him live more then comfortably, yet they were also rich enough to just leave him by himself for a whole month. Strangely enough, Zexion felt sorry for the blonde. Their neglects were different but they still shared the same amount of pain.

* * *

The day had been an extremely long one, one in which both Roxas and Axel had been insulted. A lot. They were mostly just called fags, but there had been a few worse ones in there. Axel wasn't dealing with it too well, though he managed not to show it, but Roxas was used to being called an abomination. Now, though, they were locked safely in Axel's room, Roxas there to hang around for an hour until he had to get to work. Roxas was sitting on the bed with his back up against the headboard. Axel was half laying on him, his long arms wrapped around Roxas' midsection and his head rested against Roxas' chest, content as the blonde ran his fingers through his red mane of hair.

"I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously," Axel spoke quietly, his voice muffled in Roxas' shirt. "I was just so god damn arrogant…"

Roxas shushed him, his fingers continuing their ministrations.

"I think the experience we had today was more then enough punishment for that," Roxas sighed. "…Do you regret it?"

Axel pushed himself up on his arms, his eyes going wide as he stared at Roxas.

"Of course not!" he said quickly as if trying to convince the blonde that he was innocent of murder. He leaned forward and Roxas, seeing it coming from a mile away, offered his lips up for a kiss. As Axel obliged, Roxas realized that this was a different kind of kiss. They'd had deep, passionate kisses and chaste kisses, but this kiss was different. This kiss was still passionate, but it was firm and closed mouthed, like Axel was reassuring him that he didn't regret a thing.

"I could never regret it, Roxy. I want the whole world to know that I love you."

Roxas froze, staring at the redhead in disbelief. How could he respond to that? Sure, he was attracted to Axel. He liked him well enough…but love? They'd only really known each other for a few days. He couldn't deny that there was a definite connection, but love seemed a bit too…serious. He worried that the redhead might get angry that Roxas hadn't replied yet, but Axel only smiled and kissed Roxas once more before settling back down as he had been before.

"Don't worry about it, Roxy. You don't have to say it back right now," he said quietly, sounding on the verge of sleep. "I understand." Roxas was extremely glad for this, finally unfreezing and letting his eyes drift closed, sleep overtaking them both in a matter of minutes.

Demyx's room was the size of Zexion's whole house. It was actually the entire third floor of the mansion, fashioned into a penthouse. He had his own bathroom, living room, and bedroom up there. Zexion had shared his room with Riku for thirteen years.

* * *

"Yeah…so this whole floor is mine. My parents never come up here. Just me and the maids," Demyx explained, brushing aside a fluttery blue curtain, revealing a bedroom set up behind it. The entire area was blocked off on all sides by the same curtain material. Zexion figured it was to give some semblance of an actual room instead of a living room with a bed in it.

Demyx was watching Zexion study the area with wide eyes.

"What do you think, Zexy?" he asked with a small grin.

"It's nice, Demyx. Very…big."

Demyx nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, it is a bit much, isn't it? Still, it's where I spend most of my time, so…" he trailed off, bring a thumbnail up to his mouth and chewing on it unconsciously. They were both quiet for a long time, an awkward silence settling over them. Zexion, for once in his life, was almost desperate for the silence to end. When his eyes found the guitar resting carefully in its stand in the corner, it was almost like a godsend.

"You play the guitar," he said, suddenly remembering Demyx having mentioned that. The blonde practically glowed when Zexion mentioned it.

"Yup! Want me to play something for you?" Before Zexion could answer, Demyx was picking up the guitar, pulling the strap over his head, and tuning it. Zexion sat down on the bed, as it was the only surface to sit on except for the floor. Demyx sat next to him, gave the strings a strum, and started to play. He didn't sing or anything, just closed his eyes and played a melody, but it was the most beautiful thing Zexion had ever heard in his life. He could tangibly feel emotion coming from the cords, swirling around him and making his heart feel strange. Before he knew what he was doing, he reached out and clasped his hands over Demyx's, stilling the music. Demyx, looking confused, opened his eyes and frowned.

"Did you not like it?" he asked, sounding slightly hurt. Zexion shook his head, hands working to loosen the strap from around Demyx's neck. The blonde finally figured out what he was trying to do and removed it himself, leaning his guitar against the wall.

"I loved it, Demyx. It was beautiful," he answered honestly.

"Then why'd you stop me?"

Zexion took a step forward, bringing them chest-to-chest before he spoke again.

"I wanted your hands free for something else," he breathed, catching the still confused blonde's lips in a searing kiss. Demyx responded enthusiastically, and it was all Zexion could do not to grin in victory.

* * *

Roxas awoke to an annoying prod in the forehead. He wrinkled his nose and swiped his hand at the annoyance before trying to fall back asleep. It happened again and Roxas was forced to open his eyes. He blinked twice before realizing that he wasn't in his room. Axel was still fast asleep on top of him and Reno was looking down at them mockingly.

"Hi there, little Roxas," he greeted with a grin, "It's nearly four o' clock, you know. Don't you have family that'll worry about ya?"

It took a moment for this all to sink in before he sat up quickly, jostling Axel off of him, and swore loudly.

"Roxy?" Axel mumbled tiredly. "What's the problem?"

"I'm an hour late for work!" Roxas cried, pulling himself out of the bed. Axel seemed to wake up quickly as well.

"Oh shit. Come on, Roxy, I'll get you there as fast as I can."

They didn't say anything at all on the ride there, pulling in front of the restaurant roughly twenty minutes later. Roxas jumped out of the car and rushed inside, only to be met by his boss the very first thing.

"Listen, Jasmine!" he said quickly. "I'm really, really sorry! I don't really have an excuse, but I swear this will never happen again!"

She sighed sadly and shook her head. "I know it won't Roxas. Because you're fired." For the second time that week he could feel the world crumbling around him.

"No!" he begged. "No, please. Just give me one more chance it'll never happen again, I promise! Please, Jasmine, I need this job!"

Again, she shook her head. "I'm sorry Roxas. It's out of my hands."

"I…I understand," he said quietly. Before either one of them could say another word, he turned on his heel and headed back outside. Axel stared at him as he climbed back into the front seat.

"Roxas?" he questioned, uncharacteristically quiet and serious.

"I…I got fired," Roxas said numbly. Axel sighed and started up the car again, pulling out of the parking lot.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Ax. Can you just…take me home, please?"

"Sure thing," Axel answered, turning the truck in the direction of Roxas' house. Funny thought that it might not be so for much longer.

* * *

Things escalated very quickly. One moment they were shyly kissing and the next, Zexion was straddling Demyx on the bed, their bodies pressed tightly together, making out heavily. Demyx seemed to have a fascination with running his hands through Zexion's hair. He knew that he'd look ridiculous later, but he couldn't really seem to care about that. For now. It was only when Demyx swept his hand in such a way that Zexion's bangs were pushed aside that he got worried. Demyx's hand came into contact with the thick, ugly scars, and everything froze. Zexion yanked himself away, quickly pushing his bangs back into place in vain. He knew that there was no point and Demyx would no doubt ask questions, but he had to try anyway.

"Zexy?" the blonde said breathlessly. "Zexion, come back here." Zexion meekly approached the bed, and Demyx's hand instantly came up to sweep his bangs back. Zexion closed his good eye, not wanting to see the look of disgust that was sure to come. He heard a small gasp and winced, making to pull away before he felt a hand clamp on his arm.

"Oh, Zexy," he whimpered. "What happened to you?"

"It's nothing," he lied. "Just a drunken mistake…"

"You didn't do this to yourself!" Demyx gasped in outrage. Zexion opened his eye and stared at the blonde in disbelief.

"No. I didn't do it to myself. My father did it to me," he answered honestly.

Demyx looked so sad, his finger coming to trace over the thick scars.

"I'm sorry," Zexion apologized. "I know it's grotesque…"

"No," Demyx shook his head. "It's not. Does…this eye not open?" he asked and Zexion could imagine the feeling of Demyx's finger tracing over his eyelid.

"No. I'm blind on that side." As long as this was all happening, he figured he might as well tell the truth. Zexion wanted more then anything to push his bangs back into his face, to hide from scrutinizing eyes, but somehow he knew Demyx wouldn't let him. The blonde leaned forward and pressed a kiss over Zexion's bad eye. He could feel it through the ruined tissue, just barely, but he could feel it.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Zexy," he said quietly. "But you know it doesn't make you any less beautiful, right? Actually…it's kind of sexy," the blonde grinned. Zexion knew he was only saying it to make him feel better, and he appreciated the attempt. Still, though, he titled his head so his bangs swept back into his face. They stared at each other for a long time before Zexion said, "Thank you." It was so quiet, he wasn't even sure if Demyx had heard, but the blonde smiled and he knew that he had.

"You're beautiful," was the only response.

----------

A/N: Good times with Zemyx. Ah, Dem's so sweet. Gotta love him. Whoever it was that expressed their happiness that there was no Zemyx way back in chapter three or four, welp…sorry. Couldn't help myself. Oh, and poor Roxas, losing his job and all. Poor kid can't catch a break. AXEL SAID THE 'L' WORD! Squeal! Okay, I'm done. Review, if you would.


	12. A Journey into the Land of Filler, P 2

A/N: Dudes, my life keeps getting worse and worse. I broke my laptop today. Yeah. Like, I can still write on it and whatnot, but I broke the USB port so I can't get any of my writing off of my computer. It sucks. Lucky for you guys, I have this entire fic already saved on my geek stick, but I just finished another fic and was about to save it on said geek stick when I broke the port. I have the first thirteen chapters, but after that...nada. There are seven chaps trapped within the confines of my laptop. I'm gonna ask my stepdad to fix it, because he used to do computer stuff for the military, but I don't know if he can fix it...keep your fingers crossed, eh?

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 12

A month later Roxas trudged into Sociology with his head down, eyes drooping in exhaustion. He'd stayed up very late into the night talking with Leon about what they were going to do when they rent came up. They couldn't continue to take money from Axel when they didn't have the means to pay him back. Along with the decline of the economy, there was a huge lack of jobs around Twilight Town. Neither Leon nor Roxas had managed to find work as of yet. Things were not looking good for them, not at all.

He dropped into a seat in the center of the room, burying his head in his arms and closing his eyes. This only lasted for about two minutes, though, when he felt a hand rest on his back. Roxas lifted his head to meet Axel's eyes, which widened considerably.

"Shit, Roxas. You look terrible!" he said unthinkingly. Roxas' eyes narrowed.

"You really know how to make a guy feel special, Ax," Roxas spat. Axel shook his head, taking the seat next to Roxas'.

"That's not what I meant, Roxy, you know that. Did you sleep at all last night?" Roxas shook his head tiredly.

"Not really, no. Things have been…really tough lately." Axel's hand rubbed consoling circles around Roxas' back, almost making the blonde fall asleep. At that moment, however, the bell rang and the teacher started the lesson.

Roxas had always found Sociology really interesting, but he'd been really surprised to find that they taught such a subject. Sociology was the study of different cultures. It was all about coming to understand the things in society that were different from yourself. Twilight Town was the most closed minded place in the world, and yet this was the most popular elective in the school. It had taken Roxas four years to get into it.

"Today's discussion," Mr. Turner said in his crisp British accent, "is about a topic that I'm sure you're all familiar with. I'd like to remind you that discussion counts for seventy-five percent of your grade in this class." He closed a large map to reveal the topic written on the white board.

Gay and Lesbian relationships.

Roxas and Axel exchanged a glance, knowing that the rest of the class was well aware about their relationship, and wondering what was going to happen.

"Sir, I hardly think this is appropriate material to be discussing," one guy spoke up, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"That is precisely what this course is about, Wakka!" Mr. Turner exclaimed. "Why does it make you uncomfortable? What is your stand?" He sounded so excited Roxas thought he might wet himself like a puppy.

Wakka set his face in a scowl, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's unnatural, that's what it is!" he bit out, looking like a petulant child. "Guys aren't supposed to screw other guys…it's just not normal."

Roxas could see Axel getting defensive. He'd sat up straighter in his chair and was now glowering angrily at the ignorant jock. Roxas reached out a hand, resting it lightly on Axel's arm, casting the redhead a look that said, 'let it go'. Axel was past pissed, though, and he spoke next quite deliberately.

"Who the hell are you to decide what's normal or not?" he demanded.

Mr. Turner nodded excitedly. "Ah, very good. This should be interesting, as we have two different sides available. The homophobic and gay perspectives." Axel chose to ignore this, though Roxas cocked an eyebrow at the teacher. The gay perspective? What, were they now the able to speak for gay kind everywhere?

"Of course it's not natural! Read the bible…"

"I swear to God," Roxas spoke up. "If you say anything about Adam and Steve I will punch you in the face."

"Roxas!" Mr. Turner admonished.

"I was _going_ to say," Wakka spoke loudly. "Check Leviticus 20:13. 'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, it is detestable. They must be put to death…'"

Roxas could feel his own anger burning now. Axel turned fully to look at Wakka, his green eyes practically acidic.

"Are you gonna be the one to do it, then?" he demanded. "Go ahead, then. Kill me right now. It's the price of my sins, after all."

Judging by the angrily disgusted look Axel was receiving from Wakka, Roxas was afraid that he might actually do it. Mr. Turner looked panicked, apparently realizing that the topic of discussion probably wasn't a good one, though a bit too late.

"God's judgment isn't for me to handle. He'll deal with you himself," Wakka finally spat.

"Fucking coward!" Axel growled back, rising to his feet. He looked just about ready to hit something and Roxas felt this was a good moment to intervene. Sure, he was pissed too, but he didn't want Axel getting charged with assault.

"Axel!" he said, also rising to his feet. "Ax, chill out, please. Just let it go, he's a bigoted idiot." He grabbed the redhead's arm, knowing that it wouldn't restrain him if he didn't want to be, but hoping that he would listen to reason.

"Perhaps it's time for this discussion to be over…" Mr. Turner attempted, but was promptly ignored.

Axel turned his back on Wakka, instead choosing to wrap his arms around Roxas' midsection, yanking him close. The blonde's eyes near about popped out of his head as Axel leaned down and kissed him hard and deliberately. There were audible gasps all around them and one soft scream. After a moment of making his point, Axel pulled away and glared defiantly at Wakka before tilting his head back and sending the same fierce look at the ceiling.

"Go ahead, God!" he yelled. "Strike me down! I'm a sinner! I'm _evil_!" With his arms spread wide and his head tilted back, waiting to be smited, Roxas had to admit that he did look like a bit of a martyr. Finally, he dropped the theatrics and glared at Wakka one final time.

"You see?" he challenged, before reaching into his shirt and pulling on the thin silver chain that never left his neck. The silver cross spilled over the top of his shirt, shining in the light.

"I'm a fucking Baptist. I was baptized when I was fifteen and I've never missed a day of church yet. I've accepted Jesus and I've studied my Bible and I know what is expected of me. You might want to re-read some of the scriptures and focus on your own flaws instead of mine," he spat, grabbing his bag from the back of his chair and marching out of the room. Complete and total silence was left in his wake.

Eventually, Mr. Turner cleared his throat and dismissed them for the rest of the period. Roxas grabbed his bag and rushed out of the classroom, choosing a random direction in hopes of finding his boyfriend.

He'd never really believed in God himself, finding that to be a difficult thing with the condition of his life, but he remembered when he'd first discovered Axel's Christian roots. They'd actually been changing for bed, because Axel more often then not spent the night at Roxas' house lately, and Roxas had caught a glimpse of the silver chain glinting in the light. When he'd asked, Axel had unabashedly explained about his religion, a light grace filling his features as he did so. It was almost like his religion made him extremely happy, which was an incredibly strange concept to Roxas. He'd been so convinced that all religious people were homophobic bigots and yet Axel himself was gay. The redhead had explained that in his church, they held the belief of hating the sin and not the sinner. Sure, they believed that he was sinning in his actions, but they accepted the fact that all people sinned.

Roxas still didn't really like that idea, considering they still judged who they were, but Axel seemed content and really, who was Roxas to ruin it for him? Axel had been trying for the past four weeks to get him to come to church with him, but Roxas wasn't having it. Church just…wasn't his thing. It could be Axel's thing all he wanted, but it just wasn't for Roxas. Especially considering the fact that, for all intents and purposes, Roxas was Jewish. He didn't practice it, hell they didn't even celebrate Hanukah, but his mother had been Jewish, so Roxas was Jewish by default.

He found Axel sitting in the center courtyard just outside of the art wing. It was an enclosed garden with a cement walkway in the middle, a place where students tended to hang out during lunch. Due to the fact that it was first period, though, the place was completely deserted. Axel sat on a bench, his long legs stretched out in front of him and his head leaned back against the brick wall behind him, staring at the sky. Roxas took the seat next to him, sitting in the same fashion. They were both quiet for a really long time. Long enough that the bell rang and the rest of the school passed to their next classes and then the bell rang again and all was quiet. Finally, though, Roxas reached out his hand and took Axel's, stroking his thumb along the redhead's palm.

He wasn't really sure why, but the redhead had an addiction to touching and being touched. It wasn't necessarily something sexual all the time, either. Most of the time it was just holding hands, or a hand on the shoulder, a brush of fingers as they passed each other in the hallway, small things like that. Axel loved to do it and Roxas found himself looking forward to it everyday.

"You're such a drama queen," he informed Axel, glancing at his boyfriend from the corner of his eye. Very slowly, Axel grinned.

"Yeah, I know," he answered. "He just…pissed me off. A lot. I wanted to prove a point. It's people like him that make us all look bad, you know that right?"

Roxas merely nodded, knowing that the 'us' he was referring to had nothing to do with Roxas.

"Anyway…I guess it doesn't really matter. I got to be theatrical and make a point all at the same time. Not to mention the fact that Mr. Turner's going to be afraid to cross the boundaries of everyone in class again. I mean really, what was he _thinking_?"

Roxas laughed, feeling a little bad for the man. They were quiet again for a moment before Axel sat up fully, rearing for a conversation change.

"So, wanna come to my place after school? I figure we can give poor Leon a rest from trying to make sure we're not doing the deed in the next room over." Roxas snorted and laughed at the same time before nodding.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. I promised Kairi I would watch that movie with her…what was it called?"

"Mean Girls," Axel answered with flourish. "It's supposed to be a girl thing, but it's surprisingly funny. Of course, you'll never tell anyone I said that. Ever."

"Of course," Roxas answered back. "Come on, let's get to class."

They stood and, after sharing a quick kiss goodbye, set off for their respective classes.

"Zexion! Hey Zex, wait up!" The taller boy came to a stop, turning back to look at Roxas as he rushed up.

"Hey," he greeted, slightly breathless, pushing his blonde locks out of his eyes.

"Hi," Zexion greeted, shifting his bag on his shoulder, paying no mind to the fact that they were stopped in the center of the hall and blocking the flow of traffic.

"Are you hanging out with Demyx today?" Roxas asked. Zexion shook his head, looking slightly put out. "No, I have to work. Riku's getting taller every day. He's almost six one now."

"Bastard," Roxas supplied, thinking of his own short stature. Zexion nodded in agreement.

"He needs new things and God knows the useless lump," Also known as Zexion's father, "isn't going to do anything about it. Riku's been trying to get a job, but you know how it is…"

Roxas nodded tiredly, thinking of his own annoying predicament.

"That sucks, Zex. Sorry…"

Zexion waved a dismissing hand in the air. "Don't apologize, I'm already getting enough of that from Riku. He feels guilty, though he really shouldn't. Genetics aren't something you can control."

Someone bumped roughly into Roxas' back, grunting, "Get the hell out of the way!" as an apology before continuing on outside. The halls were quickly clearing out, and now only a few stragglers were left.

"Roxas!" The blonde turned to see Axel coming down the hallway toward them, his hands shoved in his pockets. Roxas waved and turned back to Zexion.

"Yeah…so I was wondering if I could borrow your Chemistry notes. I was a little out of it in class today and I can't read Axel's handwriting for shit."

Zexion reached into his bag and began searching for the notes, as Axel finally reached them.

"Hey Zexion," he greeted before focusing on Roxas. "You were coming to my place, remember?" he asked, looking slightly accusatory.

Roxas rolled his eyes, holding out his hand toward Zexion, who had just pulled out his notebook with a cry of delight. "Of course I remembered. I needed to ask Zexion for something," he sighed. "I figured if you loved me as much as you say you do, you'd wait."

Looking at the cover of the green notebook, he had to smirk at the hundreds of little hearts, all with D+Z written inside them.

"Demyx," Zexion offered by way of explanation.

"I thought so," Roxas replied, placing the notes in his bag. "Thanks a lot Zex. I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Zexion nodded, waving goodbye and setting off to catch his bus.

"So I texted Kairi and told her you were coming. She promised to have everything ready by the time we walk through the door. I'm not sure if that's a threat or not, in all honesty…"

Roxas' laugh was abruptly called off by another voice calling his name loudly. Apparently he was quite popular today. He turned to see Sora and Naminé walking quickly toward them, Riku following behind at a leisurely pace. He really had gotten tall. He'd grown nearly six inches in the last _month_, and it showed. He appeared a lot skinnier then he had before and he wore a pair of cutoff jean shorts, despite the cold weather.

Axel laughed quietly, causing Roxas to glare up at him. "I'm not being mean spirited, Roxy. More like…feeling a kinship. I remember my last growth spurt. I shot up from five five to six five in two months. It was terrible, because all of a sudden every thing was so much lower and my feet were a hell of a lot farther away then I remembered. Not to mention I was in, like, eighth grade, so I was a fucking giant…"

"You're still a fucking giant," Roxas shot back. "Normal people just don't get that tall." Axel stuck his tongue out petulantly and Sora finally reached them.

"Roxas, why weren't you on the bus?" he asked breathlessly.

"Why aren't you on the bus?" Roxas demanded, knowing by that point that the buses had already pulled away.

"You were supposed to watch us today, remember?" Naminé asked pointedly. It all suddenly flooded back and Roxas, his eyes wide, cussed.

"Leon had a job interview today," he groaned out loud. He turned to look at his boyfriend. "I'm sorry, Ax, I completely spaced. I can't hang out today." He was most definitely not looking forward to walking all the way home now.

"Kairi will be disappointed," Axel frowned. They were quiet for a long moment before Axel brightened again.

"Why don't they all just come to my place, then?" he asked. Roxas liked this idea, and the three kids seemed to not mind, so the decision was made.

As they walked to the truck, Axel was explaining that they'd have to lie down so they wouldn't be seen and not to sit up for any reason. He promised that if they did and got caught, they would pay for the ticket he was sure to receive. As he was lowering the tailgate, he suddenly turned and frowned at Riku.

"Why is it that you couldn't go home?" he asked. It wasn't really in a mean way, just curious. Riku, being the continuously chill person that he was, just shrugged. "I live at their house," was his answer. Axel gave a barking laugh and nodded. "Yeah, me too."

The drive to Axel's house was relatively quiet, but it was completely made up for by the exclamations of surprise from the trio when they saw Axel's monster-sized house. Axel led them in the same way he always did, to find Kairi waiting for them in the hallway. Her eyes widened slightly, but then she just smiled.

"I'll make more popcorn."

"I'll help!" Naminé offered, ever the useful one. Kairi led her away towards the kitchen while Axel directed the rest of them into the living room.

"So…what's going on?" Sora asked, looking to Roxas for the answer.

"Last time I was here I promised Kairi I'd watch some girl movie with her and now she's making me keep it."

Sora nodded, glancing at Riku who merely shrugged and proceeded to flop down on the couch.

Roxas looked over the pair, eyes finally resting on Riku. He decided to ask the question he'd been wondering ever since he'd first seen him.

"Why the hell are you wearing shorts? It's cold as hell outside."

Riku shrugged again, bringing up a hand to chew on his thumbnail.

"I grew a lot. My jeans didn't fit anymore so I cut them off so that they'd look slightly normal."

"Aren't you freezing?" Roxas asked, thinking of the piles of snow on the ground outside.

"Not much I can do about it now," Riku answered, seemingly uninterested. Roxas took the hint and dropped the subject, taking his seat on the couch next to Axel, being sure to keep a platonic looking distance. Sora cast him a strange glance, but didn't say anything. Roxas was about to explain when Kairi and Naminé returned from the kitchen, each holding a large bowl of popcorn.

"Fuck yes!" Axel exclaimed, snatching the bowl out of Kairi's hand and settling it on his lap, digging out a handful of the freshly popped corn. He stopped munching happily when he noticed everyone, except Kairi, was giving him a strange look.

"I like popcorn," he explained after swallowing. Kairi started up the DVD player and settled on the couch next to Riku, Naminé taking the seat in between Axel and Roxas. It didn't take long for Roxas to realize why Axel thought the movie was so hilarious. In the first few minutes, Axel kept casting him sidelong glances as if waiting to see his reaction. The screen showed two little hick boys, one of which said, "On the third day, God created the pump-action rifle, so we could shoot the dinosaurs. And the homosexuals." Without missing a beat, the pair cracked up.

"Why is that so funny?" Kairi exclaimed as they continued to laugh.

Sora cast her an odd look and Roxas could immediately see it coming. He tried to stop laughing and calm himself down enough to speak, but Sora beat him to it.

"Isn't it obvious? I mean, they're gay so it's kinda like their own little joke…" Riku gently pressed a hand over his mouth, obviously catching the shocked look on Kairi's face better then the brunet had.

Finally able to speak, Roxas just intoned, "Shit."

Kairi however, just sat back against the couch. "You two have been dating since I first met you, haven't you?" she demanded, staring at Roxas with an unreadable expression. At a loss for words, the blonde could only nod guiltily.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me!" she exclaimed, a smile breaking over her features. "Do you really think I'd have ratted you out to dad?"

Axel slowly shook his head. "I…didn't know what to think, Kairi. I figured the less people who knew at home, the safer it is…"

"You're stupid!" Kairi exclaimed. Naminé, Sora, and Riku had fallen completely silent, the only sounds being from the TV and Kairi. "The more people here that know, the better we can deter dad off your trail if he gets suspicious. Don't you know anything about lying?"

Axel just shrugged helplessly. "I expect Reno knows?" she asked. He nodded and she sighed. "Well, all right then. We'll be able to help you out. I don't think mom needs to know unless it's completely necessary." Axel nodded in agreement and Kairi regained her usual bubbly nature.

"Okay, then. By the way, Roxas, I'm not mad at you. I'm just trying to figure out why the hell you'd waste your time on an idiot like my brother."

Roxas snorted and Axel 'hey'd in protest. Crisis finally averted, though, they turned back to the movie. After about twenty minutes, Naminé slid off the couch and went to squeeze herself into the one that held the three younger kids. Axel reached over and pulled Roxas against his side, wrapping a tight arm around him to keep the blonde in place.

Not that he would have tried to escape. Right next to Axel was his favorite place in the world.

------------------------

A/N: That last line was incredibly cheesy. Yeah, so I just wanted to explain something to you. The fact that Axel's a Jesus Freak doesn't mean that it's going to become a huge part in this story. In fact, I hadn't even planned it at all but while I was writing that scene it slipped out and it helped with the dramatics so I kept it. The Christian bit probably won't even been mentioned again. It might in passing, but I promise that I'm not going to shove religion down anyone's throats in this fic, capiche? As for the rest of this, I realize that it was nine pages of filler. I just wanted to kind of settle things in with people and move time along and this seemed the best way to do it. So sorry if you feel like I've wasted minutes of your precious life. But anyway, I digress. Review si vous plait. (I have no idea if I spelled that right. I take Spanish, not French)


	13. Drama, Live!

A/N: WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE, A YELLOW SUBMARINE, A YELLOW SUBMARINE…Here's a writer's hint for you guys. Listen to the Beatles while writing; it really gets the creative juices flowing (my personal favorite is Eleanor Rigby).

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 13

Nearly six weeks after getting fired, the blonde was beginning to get desperate. It was extremely discouraging, not being able to help out. Leon had managed to find a job as a security guard at a local club. It paid better then his last job had, but he was always either working or asleep. He'd leave for work at eight every night, come home at seven in the morning and go to sleep, wake up around six and fix dinner, eat fast, take a shower, dress, and go. Roxas understood that it had to be done, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for his brother and maybe a bit resentful. Most of his time was now spent watching out for Sora and Naminé and, a lot of the time, Riku as well.

He loved his siblings and he knew what had to be done, but he sometimes wished things weren't the way they were. He figured he'd rather be rich with neglectful parents then dirt poor with none. Leon's job plus Axel's help had saved them from living on the streets, but just barely. About a month before it had gotten to the point where they were eating about once a week when they could get the chance. Most of what they had went to the twins, though they often protested. That was until random groceries began showing up on their porch. About once a week, always at a different time, two or three bags of groceries would appear on the porch.

At first, Roxas had accused Axel, but after a bit of thought, came to realize that was stupid. If Axel wanted to help out he just would have. He wouldn't have taken the time to sneak around. Roxas didn't know for sure where the mystery groceries came from, but he knew they were edible and that was good enough for him. When you were starving, it really put things into perspective. He couldn't deny that sort of charity, not and look at his siblings in their hungry misery. So he sucked it up and stopped grilling people mercilessly about it. He had his suspicions that it was one of his newly acquired rich friends, like Aeris. She seemed like that type. Still, without any idea of when the person would come, he couldn't know for sure.

The only thing keeping him slightly sane was Axel's never-ending presence. They were almost always together, without fail, and Axel had so graciously helped Roxas' nicotine habit. They usually split a pack between them a day and Roxas knew that it must be costing Axel a fortune. The only way he could keep himself from feeling guilty about it was knowing that Axel would spend the money on cigarettes with or without Roxas' influence. He figured he should try to quit his bad habit, but he knew that it was just thinking. He didn't have the willpower to quit, not right now.

It was a Tuesday evening when it happened. Roxas and Axel were in Roxas' bedroom doing homework. Correction, Roxas was doing homework. Axel was doing his best to distract Roxas.

The blonde scowled down at the page, crossing out what he'd just written. Proofs, he was sure, were the root of all evil. There were just too many stupid rules.

"Come on, Roxy," Axel wheedled, kissing his shoulder lightly. "Put the book away. You look like you want to throw it into a wall, anyway." Roxas let out a frustrated sigh.

"Ax, please!" he cried. "You can pay for whatever college you want. I need a full ride…"

"I'm not saying don't do it," Axel reasoned. "I'm just saying don't do it right now. Come on, it's December. Tomorrow is the last day of classes before Christmas break…"

"Which is why I need to finish this," Roxas pointed out. "I can't hand it in late, so I might as well do it right now."

"But Roxas…!"

"I'm almost done. Jeez, you're impossible. If you're going to be annoying go home and bother Reno."

"But I can't do this to Reno!" He kissed Roxas' jaw. Roxas made to swat him away but the redhead deftly dodged the hand and captured his lips instead. Despite all his earlier protests, Roxas lost instantly. He dropped his pen, forgot about the math book resting in his lap, and brought his hands up to cradle Axel's face. And then the door slammed open.

"Really God? You've gotta be kidding me!" Axel cried to the ceiling as Roxas pulled away from him.

"Roxas!" Sora wailed, closing the door behind him.

"Sora? What's the matter?" Roxas asked, his brotherly instincts kicking in. He ignored Axel's mutterings behind him and the math book he'd just remembered, focusing solely on Sora. He looked the same as he had when he'd found out Santa wasn't real. Utterly crushed and confused, as if everything he knew was wrong.

"Roxas…I…it…Riku…" Roxas sat up straighter.

"What about Riku? Did his father do something to him…"

Sora shook his head, trying to form a sentence. "He…Roxas…I don't…"

"Sora!" Roxas snapped, now way past worried. "Get a hold of yourself! What happened?"

"Riku kissed me!" Sora wailed. "And not a friendly kiss on the cheek, either! Like…on the lips…and there was tongue and…"

Roxas felt himself become immensely calmer. "Oh, is that all?" he asked.

"Is that all?" Sora yelled, sounding manic. "Didn't you hear me? Riku, my best friend, kissed me! With tongue!"

"Why are you so freaked out about that?" Axel asked with a raised eyebrow. "Unless it was a bad kiss…"

"Don't you get it?" Sora howled. "My best friend kissed me. My _male_ best friend!" Roxas exchanged a look with Axel and then stared at his brother.

"It…happens, So," Roxas said carefully. "Sometimes guys kiss other guys."

Sora threw his hands into the air in exasperation. "I know that, Roxas! I'm not stupid. It's not the fact that Riku's gay, it's that _I'm not_!"

"You're not?" Axel yelped, sounding extremely surprised.

"Of course I'm not!" Sora whined. "I can't be…gay." He looked so panic stricken that Roxas felt bad for him. The blonde pushed his backpack off the edge of his mattress and patted the spot next to him. Sora sat down and Roxas wrapped an arm around his shoulders, giving him a hug.

"It's all right, Sora, you know that, don't you?" he said quietly.

"What…?" Sora mumbled.

"It's all right if you liked it when Riku kissed you. It really is. It's not wrong, it's just the way you are."

"Well you have to tell me that!" Sora wailed. "You're my brother."

Roxas snorted. "Sora, if there's anyone who would know, wouldn't it be me?"

"It's not like you're a completely different person from it," Axel spoke up. "You're still who you've been, just…not the same as everyone else. It's not a bad thing, Sora. Just…different."

Sora let out a breath and looked at Axel, his big blue eyes watering slightly.

"Really?" he asked in a small voice. Axel grinned and nodded.

"Of course. I'm still the same annoying jerk I have been for years." Very slowly, Sora smiled. Sensing that the crisis was averted, Roxas scowled.

"Oh, sure, you'll listen to him but not me?" he demanded. Sora shrugged with a sheepish grin. "Well…he's not family. He doesn't have to be nice to me." Roxas rolled his eyes and grabbed up his textbook again. Sora sure was content with who he was, wasn't he?

"Thanks you guys. As compensation, I won't tell Leon that you were alone in here with the door closed," Sora said cheerfully.

"Yeah, thanks," Roxas grumbled, knowing that Sora wouldn't have told anyway. Leon had some pretty strict rules about Axel being in Roxas' bedroom. While he allowed Axel to stay the night all the time, they couldn't close the bedroom door if it was just the two of them. It was fine if someone else was in the room, though.

"So…what happened to Riku, anyway?" Axel asked. Sora paled a bit, his eyes widening. "Oh…uh…well, I kinda…ran away from him…?" He let out a nervous chuckle. Right on cue, the front door slammed open and Riku's voice could be heard, if not through the entire neighborhood, then at least the whole street.

"Sora!" he yelled. The brunet in question froze like a deer in the headlights. A second later, the bedroom door slammed open once again and Riku, all six feet and two inches of him, was framed in the doorway. He looked worried and sad and slightly scared. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment and Roxas watched them like he was watching a movie. The drama was most certainly about to unfold and, lucky him, he had front-row seats. He wished he had some popcorn and soda. Maybe some of those chocolate-covered peanuts.

Sora opened his mouth to speak, but Riku shook his head and covered Sora's mouth with his hand to shush him.

"Don't say anything, Sora, please!" Riku begged, sounding on the verge of tears. Due to his sheer size and mature looks, Roxas often forgot that Riku was only fifteen years old.

"I'm really sorry," he said. "It was stupid to do that! I shouldn't have. I'll never do it again, I promise! Just…please, don't leave me alone. You're my best, best friend and I don't want to lose you! I'll never do it again," he reiterated. Sora reached up and took Riku's hand, lifting it off his mouth.

"It's okay, Ri, really. I'm sorry, I just…freaked out…"

Riku looked extremely relieved and fought to speak again. "I know, So. I know, I'm really sorry. I won't do it ever again, I swear…"

"But…" Sora interrupted, looking a little nervous. "But I want you to."

"I wo…wait, what?" Riku looked surprised and suspicious, almost as if he didn't trust what he'd heard with his own ears.

"I want you to kiss me again, Riku. I shouldn't have run away…"

"You…you're sure?" Riku asked. Sora nodded. "Absolutely sure? Because I don't want you to do what you're uncomfortable with…"

"Riku, I'm sure!" Sora exclaimed.

"Sora…"

"God, Riku, just kiss him already!" Axel yelled. Riku turned to glower at Axel and opened his mouth to argue. Sora let out an exasperated noise and grabbed Riku's face between his hands, pulling it down so he could kiss his lips.

Roxas blinked and, feeling slightly disgusted at the sight of his brother making out with someone, looked away.

"Oh god," he muttered. "Ew."

"It's like a bad movie, isn't it?" Axel said with a grin.

"Or a cheesy story," Roxas nodded with agreement.

"I kinda feel like we should start playing some background music for this. How does Jesse McCartney sound to you?" Axel asked. Roxas wrinkled his nose at the thought.

"Nope, I don't like him," Roxas shook his head. "Go for something a little less gay, please."

"Gay?" Axel gasped. "I wish. Anyway, how can you not like Jesse? He's got, like, the sexiest voice ever!"

"It's not that great," Roxas insisted. "In fact, I think it's kind of annoying."

Axel looked as if someone had slapped him and Riku and Sora finally separated, the platinum blonde glaring at the pair of them.

"You're ruining a moment, you know," Sora piped up. The older two didn't seem to hear them.

-------------------

A/N: The point to this chapter? There really was none. I just wanted that little bit with Riku and Sora. Not to mention the Jesse McCartney thing. How would Roxas feel if he knew that annoying voice was his own? Review, por favor.


	14. The Nightmare Before Christmas

A/N: Yup, I gift you with two chapters today. Why? Because I feel bad about the mass amounts of filler you've been recieving as of late.

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 14

As the phone rang for the fifteenth time, Roxas let out a snarled scream and ripped the cord from the wall. Leon, in one of those rare moments that he was actually home, spoke up quietly.

"Roxas, don't take out your anger on the phone. I know you're upset, but…"

"I'm not upset, Leon!" Roxas snarled. "I'm way past upset! I'm raving mad! I could kill something!"

"Roxas," Leon snapped sharply. "Don't talk like that!" He nodded toward the living room where Roxas knew his siblings, and most likely Riku, were. Too mad to apologize, Roxas stomped out of the kitchen and into his bedroom. He threw himself on his bed, trying to keep the tears of hurt and rage from flooding out of his eyes. The first thing his eyes fell on was the picture that had been there for just about four months. The picture of the two of them together, looking so happy. It was all a fucking lie. All of it. He didn't care, he didn't love. He was a liar and so much more. Roxas ripped the picture off the wall and reached for his lighter, setting the picture ablaze. It didn't help. It only made Roxas think about him. He loved fire. He was made of fire. The blonde stomped the mini-inferno out and ripped what was left of the offending picture to pieces, chucking them in the random direction of his bedroom door. As he landed heavily on his bed once more, he let the tears leak from his eyes finally. They fell one by one, and then faster, until they were a large torrent of tears, like some sort of dam had broken behind his eyes. Before long he was sobbing, choking on his tears, his throat throbbing painfully from the effort. The door creaked open slightly and he heard Naminé's voice.

"Roxas?" she said quietly. When he didn't acknowledge her, she let herself in, coming to sit next to him on the bed. Her hand stroked consoling circles on his back.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I would have never thought he could hurt you like this. I liked him a lot. We all did…"

"I don't want to hear about how much of a god Ax…he is," Roxas snarled, unable to speak the name.

"I know," Naminé said quietly. "I'm really so sorry that he hurt you so much."

Roxas merely shrugged, not knowing what else to say. She stayed with him, rubbing his back comfortingly and humming little melodies. Eventually, his tears stopped and he managed to fall into a fitful sleep.

Earlier that day

"So…" Axel grinned. "Christmas is in three days. Are you excited, or what?"

Roxas grinned up at his boyfriend and shrugged. "I don't know, I guess. Why, what did you get me?" Axel grinned back.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to take it back."

"Naturally," Roxas agreed.

The pair was, once again, in Axel's room, enjoying their freedom. Neither of Axel's parents was home, which basically left them open to do what they wanted. They had opted to lie on Axel's bed, alternating between talking and making out. Admittedly, the latter happened more often the former. They were teenage boys, after all.

They'd been there for nearly three hours when Axel pulled away, reaching for his cell phone, which was buzzing on his desk. Roxas grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

"What, am I not interesting enough for your attention?" he complained.

"No, Roxas, its just…" Roxas interrupted him in the form of flipping the redhead over and climbing on top of him. He grabbed his wrists and held them above his head, pining them down to the mattress. Axel grinned up at him.

"You have my undivided attention," he assured the blonde.

"As it well should be," Roxas reprimanded with a teasing grin. He leaned his face down and kissed the redhead hard on the mouth, showing that he meant business. Axel smiled through the kiss, his fingers tangling with Roxas' where their hands met.

Roxas could live with that feeling forever. Not just the kissing, but the strange roar of approval in his chest whenever he was with the redhead. That feeling of utter contentment, the peace, the wholeness. That same feeling that went away whenever Roxas was alone. Abruptly, the blonde pulled away, sitting up. Axel looked up at him, confused.

"Who said you could stop?" he demanded.

"Sorry, Ax," Roxas said, sounding slightly detached. "I just had an epiphany." Axel raised his eyebrows and rested his released hands on Roxas' hips.

"And what would that be?" he asked.

"I love you," Roxas said simply. Axel stared at him for a long minute as if confused, before he grinned.

"I love you, too, Roxas."

The blonde smiled and leaned down to kiss him once again. Axel's hands moved to bunch at the front of the blonde's shirt, a method to keep him from pulling away again. They were content like that for a good while before the door opened.

"What the hell is this?" Axel roughly shoved Roxas off of him, standing up quickly.

"Dad!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Axel!" his dad snarled. "What the hell is this?"

"Dad…I don't…I didn't know…"

Axel's father's eyes blazed as he turned his angry gaze on Roxas.

"What the hell were you doing?" he demanded.

"What did it look like I was doing?" Roxas shot back, sick and tired of hiding everything.

"It looked like you were forcing yourself on my son." Roxas' eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I wasn't forcing myself on him!" he yelled in outrage. "He was plenty willing, I can assure you. Right, Ax?"

There was a very long moment of silence as both Roxas and Axel's father stared at the redheaded teen. His eyes were wide and he looked like he was in shock. He stayed completely silent and he avoided Roxas' eyes.

"Well, I think that's answer enough," Axel's father spoke up. "You leave my house right now or I'll call the police."

"Axel!" Roxas yelled disbelieving. "Ax, you can't be serious! Tell him!" Axel's head drooped and his eyes closed. He still didn't say a word.

Roxas felt like someone had slapped him in the face. For all the times Axel had said that he loved him, all the time they'd spent together, he was just going to let this happen? A rage flew over him and he just wanted to cause someone pain.

"Fine," he spat. "Fuck you, Axel. What I said earlier? I take it back. You're not worth it. Go play on a freeway or something." He stalked out of the house, but he waited until he was at least a block away before he started crying. The weather seemed to reflect his mood, as it started to pour rain as he walked home. When he reached his house nearly an hour later, Naminé met him at the door.

"Axel called," she informed him.

"I don't give a shit," Roxas snapped. Naminé looked taken aback for a moment before gasping.

"Roxas, are you crying?" she asked

"I'm fine. I'm not crying. It's just rain," he lied.

"Roxas…did something happen with Axel?" she asked tentatively.

"Nope, nothing at all. Unless you count the fact that he let his father believe I was fucking molesting him," he growled. "It's not important Nami."

"But Roxas…"

The phone rang and Roxas snatched it up off the receiver.

"Hello?" he asked, sounding hostile.

"Roxas!" It was Axel.

"Don't fucking call my house, jackass. I want nothing to do with you!" He slammed the phone down again, scowling at it.

"…Roxas?" Leon came around the corner, looking concerned. "I heard what you told Naminé…"

"It doesn't matter!" Roxas yelled. "He said he loved me and it was a fucking lie. I don't care! I don't need him. He's just another asshole." The phone rang again and this time Leon picked it up. After a moment, he shook his head.

"He doesn't want to talk to you, Axel…no, I won't make him. What you did was really fucked up. I'm sure you have a million explanations, but he doesn't want to hear them. Please don't call again." He set the phone on the receiver again. A split second later it rang again. Leon sighed and picked it up.

"I'm serious, Axel. I'll call the police if you don't stop harassing my brother." He hung up without giving the redhead time to protest.

"Roxas?" Sora spoke quietly, as if afraid the blonde might go off on him. "Maybe you should just go to sleep. At least you'll escape reality for a while, right?" Roxas was glad that someone wasn't apologizing to him or trying to make it seem better when it wasn't.

"It's good advice, Sora, but I don't think I can sleep."

"If he's dumb enough to do that, then he doesn't deserve you," Sora said with a shrug. Roxas had the greatest urge to defend Axel, but he brushed that aside.

"You're right," he agreed. He waited dutifully next to the phone, picking it up and setting it back down on the first ring every time. Sora was certainly right. The redheaded asshole didn't deserve him. As the phone rang for the fifteenth time, Roxas let out a snarled scream and ripped the cord from the wall.

--------------

A/N: Yes! We have a plot! Finally! Fourteen chapters in, we actually have a plot! *Does victory dance* All right…how many of you hate me now? Let me know with a review.


	15. Rage

A/N: I am so psyched, guys. I got about twenty reviews, give or take three, on that last chapter! That's the most I've gotten at one time! I was so excited I decided to reward you guys with an update! I checked my stats a couple minutes ago and it said I had 169 reviews for this fic! I was like, "when did that happen!" so I'm totally excited right now.

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 15

"Dammit!" Axel snarled, chucking his cell phone against the wall. It hit with a loud bang and flew in several directions. They unplugged the phone! He couldn't believe they unplugged the phone. The room was steadily growing hotter and hotter as he paced back and forth. His fire was eating over his hands and edging up toward the sleeves of his shirt. He wasn't angry with Roxas, not really. He knew that he had absolutely no right or reason to be. He was pissed at his father's homophobia and his own cowardice. He'd just stood by and let his father believe the worst of Roxas. He could have easily told the truth, but he'd just stood there and watched. He should have said something, anything. Axel knew that the only way to fix things would be to tell the truth. Even then, it might not work. He might never earn Roxas' forgiveness. He'd never truly deserve it.

The trapdoor overhead popped open and Reno looked down on him.

"What the hell happened?" he asked. "I heard yelling, but I couldn't really figure out what was being said…"

"Drop the ladder, I'm coming up," Axel muttered. Reno obediently did as he was told and Axel clambered up and through the trapdoor into Reno's room. His brother was sitting cross-legged on the floor as Axel came through. He looked uncharacteristically concerned. Axel sat on the floor as well, pulling the ladder up and shutting both the doors.

"I did something really stupid, Reno," Axel sighed.

"You do a whole bunch of stupid shit. We always forgive you," Reno joked, trying to lighten his brother's obviously dark mood. It didn't help.

"No, Reno. I really fucked up. I deserve to have him hate me."

Reno furrowed his brow, cocking his head slightly to the side. "Who, dad? He hates us already, in case you hadn't noticed."

"No, not dad!" Axel snarled. "Roxas! I was stupid and I forgot to lock the door and dad walked in on us while we were kissing."

Reno's eyes went extremely wide. "Dad found out?" he hissed. "How are you still alive? How are you still in this house?"

Axel looked away, too ashamed to even meet the eyes of his twin, his closest confidant.

"I…well, dad started accusing Roxas of forcing himself on me. I guess it could have looked that way because I was gripping the front of his shirt and I did push him away pretty hard when dad walked in…"

Reno snorted and rolled his eyes. "Oh fuck that. You know as well as I do that dad was just trying to justify what he was seeing to himself. He knows that you weren't being forced into anything, he just doesn't want to admit that his son is gay."

"I guess. I played right into his hand too. I didn't say anything, Reno. I just let Roxas take all the blame. Now Roxas hates me and I feel like dad's crony." They were both silent for a long time, the only sounds coming from the whirring of Reno's computer.

"You know what you have to do now, right, little brother?" Reno asked. Axel ignored the fact that Reno was only seven minutes older and answered.

"I have to tell dad and crawl back to Roxas and beg him to forgive my stupidity?" he guessed.

"Precisely," Reno nodded. "But first I think we need to take a little visit to the shooting range. Don't want you trying to kill anyone in your overly emotional state. We've gotta get that hidden rage under control before you set someone on fire." He nodded toward Axel's hands, which were glowing brightly with blue flame. He hadn't even noticed that he was doing it. Squashing the fire down, Axel nodded.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. I don't know what to say to him, though, Reno. How do I tell dad that I'm gay? He'll most definitely kick me out…"

Reno shrugged. "I've told you all I can, Ax. I guess you'll just have to decide if having Roxas is worth losing everything else."

Of course Reno was right. Roxas was so much more important to him then material objects. It seemed too corny to say that they could live on love. So Axel would just think it.

* * *

Though he would never, ever admit it, Zexion was extremely dismayed when Demyx's cell phone rang. The blonde pulled away from their kiss, grimacing apologetically.

"It might be my parents," he explained.

"By all means," Zexion shrugged, leaning back on his hands and watching the blonde flip his phone open.

"Hello? Yes, this is Demyx. Naminé…? Who the hell is Naminé?" Zexion's eyebrows shot up as he watched his boyfriend talk. "Well, Roxas' younger sister…how did you get my phone number?…Ah, well, yeah I guess finding it in Roxas' room makes sense. Can I ask why you're calling me?" He paused before casting Zexion a weird look. "Yeah, he's here. Yup, sitting right here. Uh…sure, I guess you can talk to him." He offered to phone to Zexion.

"It's a girl named Naminé. She wants to talk to you. Says it's important."

Zexion nodded, taking the phone.

"Naminé?" he questioned, turning away from Demyx slightly.

"Oh Zexion, thank god!" Naminé exclaimed. "I've been trying to reach you for hours. Riku said you weren't home but I didn't know how to get a hold of you and he suggested I try you at your boyfriend's house but I didn't know the number and then I decided to see if Roxas had it and you know what his room looks like…"

"Naminé, calm down," he instructed. "What's wrong? Did something happen to Roxas?"

"Yeah. He broke up with Axel…"

Zexion was almost sure the world stopped turning for a moment. Axel and Roxas breaking up? He'd sooner expected pigs to fly.

"Shit. Why, Naminé?"

He could almost see her shrugging. "Roxas was extremely upset so I didn't get most of it, but apparently Axel's dad accused Roxas of forcing himself on Axel or something. Roxas was pissed off about it and Axel just let his dad believe it. He's mad, Zex. Even Leon can't talk him out of it. We need you." Zexion released a round of colorful expletives, something that made Demyx look the most shocked he'd ever seen him.

"All right, Naminé, I understand. Has he got the bat out, yet?"

"Yeah. Right now it's just the tree in the backyard, but…"

"All right. I'll be there as soon as I can," Zexion promised hanging up the phone. Handing it back to Demyx, he stood.

"Sorry, but I've got to go," he apologized.

"What's going on?" Demyx asked, looking mystified as Zexion grabbed his shoes from where he'd kicked them off and started tying them back on.

"Roxas has a bit of a rage problem," Zexion explained as much as he could without betraying Roxas' privacy. "When he's angry enough, he tends to go into these almost sleepwalks of blind rage. His body reacts violently to the world around him, but he never notices. He never remembers afterward. He could seriously get shot in the shoulder and he wouldn't notice the pain until he woke up." Demyx stared at him, wide eyed.

"And he's having one of these rage fits right now?" Demyx asked. At Zexion's nod, his face went slightly pale. "And you're going to stop him?" Again, he nodded.

"But…why you?" the blonde squeaked. "Why can't someone else do it?"

"It takes someone really close to him to talk him down. Leon's already tried. I'm the last chance until we have to hit him hard enough to knock him out. You could see how that might be problematic…"

Demyx nodded, still looking nervous. "But why do you have to put yourself in danger, Zexy? Why can't Axel do it? They're close."

Zexion sighed and shook his head. "Axel's the reason he's in the rage, Dem. They broke up." _If Demyx's eyes get any wider,_ Zexion mused, _they might pop out of his head._

"I'll drive you."

* * *

He gnashed his teeth and clung tighter to the bat, twisting his upper body with the force of his swing. The sweet crunch of wood meeting wood made him grin maniacally. It wasn't nearly good enough. No where near. He wanted someone to suffer, not just the tree. Someone had to hurt. He was hurt, so why not the rest of the world? He gave one final swing at the tree for good measure. His trusty bat shattered upon impact, sending large splints of wood flying everywhere. He grinned. That was good. The bat was now a large splinter, so much more effective for pain then the blunt edge it had provided before. He turned to see his next victim. The stature was short, as was he. He couldn't see the face, almost as if it weren't there. He advanced and, much to his surprise, the figure didn't move away. In fact, it dashed toward him. He swung the bat defensively, but the figure ducked under it quickly, as if it had anticipated his moves. Before he knew what was happening, he was held firmly against a tree. The small body in front of him had a lot more strength then he would have originally thought. He struggled against the hands against him, letting out a high keening cry of fear as the faceless head moved close to his neck. The predator had become the prey. He knew he was defeated. He waited for the finishing blow. Instead of this, though, he heard one single word.

"Roxas."

The sound of a name so very familiar made him pause.

"Roxas, please, wake up. Naminé is crying. Your sister needs you to protect her." Everything went white.

* * *

Axel poked his fork sullenly into his pancetta chicken and broccoli. He carefully directed a large piece of the greenery to the side of his plate to be ignored.

"Hey Ax…Axel…hello? Axeeeel…hellooooo? Roxas!" The redhead snapped to attention at the sound of the blonde's name.

"What did you say?" he asked. Reno rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Nothing, never mind that. I was just wondering…how are you planning on breaking the news to dad? You know, that you're…"

"Gay," Axel supplied.

"I was going to say a flaming homosexual, but I guess that's good too," Reno said with a grin. Axel rolled his eyes and forked some food into his mouth.

The Italian dish was one of his most favorite cheer-up meals, but the magic was failing him. He was still completely and totally down. Even the shooting range hadn't helped much. He was, admittedly, not trying to burn anyone, but he still felt like shit. As he well should, he figured.

"This sucks. I can't believe I'm so stupid," he hissed. "I waited how many years…"

"Six," Reno supplied.

"Six years for him to finally notice me and I fuck it all up in a few months!"

"Right in time for the holidays, too," Reno supplied cheerfully. Axel glared at him.

"Aren't you supposed to be helping me, oh twin of mine, rather then making me feel worse?"

Reno shrugged. "I guess. You know I suck at this shit. I'd rather laugh at peoples' pain. Schadenfreude and all that."

Axel offered a weak smile. "I guess I better call him now. The sooner I tell him, the better, I think. It'll kinda suck to be homeless on Christmas, though. I can probably crash at someone's house for the next two nights…"

Reno sighed and shook his head, looking a bit sad.

"You're really brave, Ax. In a stupid sort of way." Axel just shrugged.

"It's what I have to do." Reno nodded to show that he understood.

"I just hope it's not all for nothing."

* * *

Roxas woke up on the couch. While that wasn't extremely unusual, having a gigantic group of people staring down at him was.

"Um…hi," he offered, sitting up. "Why are you all…staring at me?" Demyx, someone he never thought he'd see in his house, spoke up.

"Wow! He really doesn't remember any of that, does he?" Roxas raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Um…remember what?" He caught sight of a broken bat in the corner, splintered into a whole bunch of broken pieces. A sick feeling came over him.

"Did I rage again?" he asked. Leon nodded.

"Did I hurt anyone?" he asked, more urgent this time. Leon shook his head. He felt immense relief come over him. He'd been having the raging blackouts ever since his parents had…died. He suddenly felt extremely exhausted, so he collapsed back onto the couch.

"What are you doing here?" he directed at Demyx. The blonde shrugged.

"Zexion needed a ride," he offered as an explanation.

"Right, of course," Roxas nodded. "Sorry you had to see…what ever it was that I did. If you'd do me a favor and not tell anyone about that…"

Demyx nodded hurriedly. "Yeah, no problem!" he exclaimed.

"Great. Thanks."

Reassured by this thought, Roxas settled back on the couch and was asleep in seconds. It would be peaceful, hopefully, and he wouldn't have to think.

------------

Pancetta chicken and broccoli is totally boss. I'm just saying. (You'll never guess what I had for dinner tonight) So, a lot of perspective change in this chapter. And Roxas is a tiny bit psycho. But don't tell anyone. He'll be fine. Quizas we'll find out why his parents' deaths had such a strong effect on him? Anyone else sense the sinister-ness in the air?


	16. Truth

A/N: What's this? I'm updating again? So soon? Yes. Yes I am. I'm also loading two chapters because one is pathetically short....this is what happens when I have a lot of free time and unlimited internet access. You can thank my best friend, whose computer I'm using, Martin Luther King for getting me out of school, and my boss for giving me the weekend off...

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 16

Axel sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep himself from switching in to full on panic mode. He had to be absolutely fucking nuts to tell his father. The bastard would probably kill him. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, ignited the end and took several long drags. The nicotine helped a bit to calm his nerves. A bit, but not much. He knew that he had to do it, no matter what. He'd realized that it was something he had to do for himself, not just Roxas. He had to escape from under the shadow of fear his father had spread over him from the time he was just a kid. He'd always been afraid of the man, though he had never admitted it out loud. He'd been scared to disappoint, just wanting what every little kid wanted. He wanted his father to love him. If not that, then to at least be proud of him. Even now, to some extent, that was what he wanted. He knew it was unobtainable, but the desire would rest in his heart most likely for the rest of his life. But he had to suck it up and be a big boy. He couldn't cower in fear of his father's disapproval. Some things were more important to him. Roxas was more important to him then anything else.

He took a long moment to reflect on that. What would he have thought way back in seventh grade, if he had known the future? Would he have bothered letting his obsession grow? What about that fateful day in detention? Would he have said anything to the feisty blonde? Would he have given up when he found that Roxas was a moody little bitch? He didn't know what he would have done. He did, however, know what he had done. And he knew what he had to do now. Taking a deep breath, he snubbed out the cigarette and raised his fist to rap on the door in front of him. After a moment, his father's irritable voice sounded.

"What?"

"Dad, it's Axel. Can I come in?" he asked, his voice coming out a lot stronger then he would have expected it to. There was a long, deliberating pause on the other side of the door and then a loud sigh. The sigh was meant to show Axel that he was interrupting something extremely important. Or at least, much more important then anything Axel could possibly have to say.

"Oh fine," he huffed finally. "If you must." Taking this to mean, 'of course son come in' he pushed open the door and stepped inside the office. It was huge, of course, with expensive looking paintings hung on the walls and bookshelves stuffed with leather volumes that Axel half expected to be bricks wrapped in leather and stamped with impressive looking titles rather then real literature. A fireplace blazing with a roaring fire made him feel slightly more relaxed, the dry heat of the flames feeling calming against his skin. His own inner fire reacted to it like a cat being stroked from head to tail. Finally, though, Axel focused on the huge mahogany (A/N: That's my name, you know) desk, behind which sat his father. He didn't appear to actually be doing anything, which actually wouldn't surprise Axel all that much.

He took the seat in front of his father's desk, ready to spring up and run for it if things got violent. He wasn't ready to write the possibility off just yet and he didn't particularly want to torch the place. Arson and murder had a pretty high charge, he was sure.

"Well, Axel? What do you want? I'm busy." The redhead fought not to scowl and stared at his knees.

"Dad…I have to tell you something," he said quietly, not quite sure how he was going to pluck up the courage. He'd probably just blurt it out…

"That's fascinating," he said, clearly not interested. "Tell me so we can all get on with our lives, please?" Suddenly pissed off, Axel's head snapped up and he glared straight into the eyes of his father.

"I came in here to tell you that you were wrong about Roxas." His father raised an eyebrow.

"Roxas?" he questioned. A moment later he said, "Ah, right. Roxas. The faggot boy."

"Don't call him that!" Axel snapped savagely. "He's a million times better then you could ever hope to be, so just back the hell off!" Axel snapped. His father's eyebrows shot up.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?" he asked.

"No, dad, it isn't. I want to tell you that Roxas wasn't trying to molest me the other day; I was completely and totally willing."

"What, exactly, are you saying?"

"I, Axel Sinclair, am a flaming homosexual!" Axel yelled at him, borrowing Reno's phrase, knowing that it would just piss his father off even more. "The thought of a naked guy totally turns me on, girls suck. Dick is great, boobs are not. You getting what I'm saying here?" Axel snapped. He swore that he could hear Reno's cackling laughter from the hallway, but he decided to ignore it.

"Axel, do something for me would you? Put you car keys, cell phone, and credit cards on the desk." Axel did as he was told, having had the suspicion that this would happen. When he set the final plastic card on the desk his father looked up at him, his blue eyes completely dead.

"Get the hell out of my house and don't come back. Don't go to your room to grab anything, just get the fuck out."

"Fuck you, too, dad," Axel shot back and left the room without another word. Reno was waiting for him outside the door.

"Where are you heading?" he asked as Axel started down the hall.

"I don't know. Um…Marly's I guess." He chose Marluxia because his pink-haired friend was a fantastic listener. He wanted to be a landscaper, but Axel thought he'd make a damn good psychiatrist. He gave very good advice and knew when to pry and when not to pry. He knew so much about the people around him he'd be a master manipulator if he had a malicious bone in his body.

"All right," Reno sighed. "Come on, I'll give you a ride." As they made their way downstairs, Kairi passed, looking curious.

"Why do you two look like someone kicked your puppy?" she asked with a frown. Axel let out a dry laugh and pulled Kairi into a tight hug. She froze for a moment, as if waiting for him to do something mean, before hugging him back just as tight.

"Ax?" she asked tentatively. "What's going on?"

"I've been kicked out. I told dad about Roxas…so I guess I probably won't be seeing you again for a long time." She pulled away and looked up into his face with wide eyes.

"Why did you do that?" she demanded. "Why would you do something so stupid?"

"I had to, Kai. It's just something I had to do. Promise me something, all right?"

She tilted her head to the side. "What?" she asked, sounding slightly suspicious.

"Promise that you won't let him run your life. Don't be afraid of him Kairi, rage against him. Don't let him control you like we did." She nodded, eyes sparkling a bit. Axel never thought that his sister would cry for him. He gave a weak laugh and shook his head.

"Damn, we're acting like I'm dying instead of just leaving." He squeezed her tight once more and then moved past her, continuing down the stairs.

"You know," Axel admitted to Reno as they went. "I'm actually very…happy right now. I've never felt so free in all my life. It's pretty exhilarating. I wish I'd have done this years ago."

"If you start singing, I'm out of here," Reno grunted.

Axel sighed. "If I could only think of a song that went with the occasion I'd do it just to annoy you. Lucky for you, though, I'm drawing a complete blank." Reno muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'Hallelujah'. Axel decided not to comment.

As they entered the garage, Axel was almost shocked to find his mother there.

"Oh. Mom, hi. I guess you know already…"

She nodded, looking sad. The next thing Axel knew, she'd thrown her arms around his midsection and was hugging the air out of him. He shot Reno a strange look before hugging his mother back hesitantly.

"Um…mom?" he asked.

"I'm so sorry, Axel. I know he's made your lives hell, but I just didn't know what to do! I've failed you as a mother I know I have! I'm so, so sorry!"

Feeling as if someone had told him that the laws of physics were no longer applicable, he just patted his mother's back awkwardly.

"Nah, ma, it's fine, really," he tried to calm her. She shook her head firmly.

"No it's not! It's not fine at all!" She finally seemed to gather herself and she let him go.

"I really am so sorry, Axel, but there isn't much I can do. While you were talking with your father I went into your room and packed up as much of your clothes as I could." She pointed to a large duffle bag on the floor. "Besides that, this is all I can give you." She pulled a debit card out of her pocket. "I've been putting money into this account for you for years now. I knew that this day would come sometime and I wanted to help you in any way that I could…"

Axel took the card, feeling stunned. "But…how did you know?" he asked. "That this would happen?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not a very good one, but I am your mother. I knew you were gay before you did. I put a couple thousand in every time I could. There should be a substantial amount of money in there…"

He felt a sudden swell of affection for his mother that had never been there before. He smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Thanks mom. Thanks so much. But…you realize that you have to step up, right? Protect Kairi as much as you can from him. Don't let him break her." She nodded, face looking determined.

"I will. I'm sorry, Axel." He nodded, feeling extremely exhausted from all the sentiment.

"I know, mom. Thanks." Reno had put the bag in the trunk and was now sitting in the driver's seat of his jeep, waiting for Axel to get in.

"I've got to go now, mom." They said their goodbyes and got in the car. They didn't say that they loved each other. Their relationship wasn't that kind. They acknowledged that they cared for one another, but love was something too big for their fragile connection to conquer. Maybe one day he might be able to say that he actually loved his mom. Maybe one day she could love him. But not then. Not that day.

As Reno pulled out of the driveway and set off in the direction of Marluxia's house, snow began to fall from the sky. In some ways, Axel connected with the fresh white blanket. It was new and clean, unmarred by the world around it. Axel planned to make his new life just like that snowfall. A clean slate.


	17. Christmas

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 17

Roxas shivered underneath his pile of blankets. He was always cold lately. No matter what he did, the cold seemed to chill all the way down to his bones. He piled blankets on, wore thick socks, and always had a hoodie or a jacket on. Despite all that, he was cold. He could be sweating bullets and overheated, but he would still be cold. He knew exactly why that was, but he didn't want to admit it. So he continued as he was, adding stray articles of clothing to make himself warmer.

Christmas day was colder then all the rest. Roxas had given the presents he had bought for Sora and Naminé, and then he had retreated to his room to warm up under the blankets. He'd been there for a long time when Zexion entered. He waved at his friend inching over so that he could sit down.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Zexion asked.

"I'm fine," Roxas waved his concern away. "Weren't you supposed to be spending the day with Demyx?" Zexion shrugged, looking away.

"Well, yeah, but Riku wanted to come here so I walked him over. Sora says you haven't left bed nearly at all today."

Roxas shrugged. "I'm just really cold," he tried to explain.

"Look, if you want, I can call Demyx and cancel. He'll understand if…"

Roxas shook his head quickly and interrupted his friend. "No way, Zexion! Go hang out with Demyx. There's no reason for either of you to be alone on Christmas." Zexion looked very much like he wanted to argue.

"Really, Zex, I'm fine. Axel doesn't control me, okay? I lived just fine before him and I'll be fine without him now. No problem."

Zexion still looked doubtful, but he nodded nonetheless.

"All right. I better go, then." He stood and left the room. As he opened the door, Roxas could hear loud voices from down the hall.

"Please, just go! Haven't you hurt him enough?" Sora was pleading.

"Please, Sora! I know I've hurt him. That's why I have to talk to him. I have to apologize. If I could just talk to him…" Roxas sighed and got to his feet, heading out into the hall. The front door was slightly opening, freezing the entire house. As Roxas drew closer, though, he became suddenly warm. It was deep, pure warmth that spread throughout his entire body and deep into his bones. It was the first time he'd felt true warmth in days.

"It's all right, Sora," he said wearily. "Thanks for trying, but he's too much of an asshole to understand when people say no." Axel grimaced slightly from his place by the doorjamb.

"I deserve that," he admitted.

"You deserve a hell of a lot worse then that," Roxas snapped. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

"Fuck no!" Roxas snapped. "What makes you think that you're welcome here?"

Axel sighed, his eyes falling closed. He breathed deeply for a few seconds, trying to keep his temper in check, before he spoke again.

"Roxas, I know I was being a dick. I was scared of my dad…"

"Excuses, Axel. I don't want to hear your half-assed excuses."

"I don't have an excuse, Roxas!" Axel exclaimed. "What I did was wrong, I know that! I'm so, so sorry. And I'm trying to make it better…"  
"How can you make this better? You've already proved that you're ashamed of me, why the hell are you here now?"

"I'm not ashamed…"

"You let your dad believe I was molesting you rather then tell him about us! That sounds like shame to me," Roxas snapped back.

Axel took a moment to calm himself again and Roxas could feel the air becoming unbearably hot around them.

"Please, Roxas. I love you," he tried.

"Apparently not enough." He closed the door on the redhead as he tried not to cry. He turned his back to it, ignoring the knocks and shouts of his name from the other side of the door. Zexion was standing the closest, his face completely expressionless. Sora was being held closely in Riku's arms, but one of his hands was stretched out to hold Naminé's. They were all silent as Axel slammed on the door a few more times, called Roxas' name twice, and then just cussed.

"Dammit. Roxas, please. Open the door." The blonde let out a shaky breath and let his eyes flutter closed. He reached behind him and flicked the deadbolt, locking the door.

"I need to get out, Roxas," Zexion pointed out a moment later.

"Zex, don't you think you should stay?" Riku asked with a sharp glance at Roxas. Zexion shook his head.

"Roxas can take care of himself," he said with finality. Roxas felt a wave of relief pass over him. He didn't want to ruin Zexion or Demyx's Christmas.

"Well…I guess we can let you out real quick. I don't think he'll actually try to charge through the door." Zexion nodded and approached the door, unlocking it. He pulled the door right open as if daring Axel to try and get through. Unsurprisingly, the redhead was still there.

"Zexion…" Whatever he'd been about to say was cut off when Zexion punched him smartly in the jaw. Axel did nothing to retaliate, just took the blow and then stared. Even Roxas was completely shocked. Zexion was never the type to get physically violent. He definitely got back at people for however they had wronged him, but he hardly ever hit anyone.

"Zexion!" Riku exclaimed, releasing Sora to run forward and grab his brother as he made to hit Axel again. While Zexion was older, Riku was both bigger and stronger. He managed to keep his brother from inflicting any more harm.

"That's nothing compared to the pain you caused," Zexion hissed, his eyes blazing.

"I know," Axel answered quietly. "I get it. I fucked up. But I want to repent for that."

They were all quiet for a long while before Zexion spoke.

"Let me go, Riku, I'm fine now." Riku obediently released his brother's arms from behind his back but stayed close, just in case he needed to grab him again.

"You need to get your shit together before you come back here demanding to talk to him." With that, Zexion pushed Axel out the door and closed it behind them.

--------------

A/N: This is a pathetically short chapter. 2¾ word pages and that is it. On the other hand, I just felt like that was a very good place to end this. I might end up posting two chapters today, but maybe not. We'll have to see, won't we?


	18. Mizu

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 18

Roxas' day was not going very well. For being the first day back in school after Christmas break, it was utterly terrible. He'd avoided his friends because, in all honesty, they had been Axel's friends first. He felt like he was splitting up his furniture with Axel during a divorce. Honestly, Roxas couldn't find anything turning out well for him at the end of the relationship. On top of that, his locker had somehow been broken. Also, the word 'FAG' was written in large letters across the once clean blue surface.

He took a deep breath and stepped into his sociology classroom, hoping that something, anything, would go in his favor. He saw Axel sitting in his usual seat, the one next to him that Roxas usually occupied empty. Wanting anything but to sit next to the redhead, he grabbed the first empty chair he saw and slid into it. He ended up sitting next to a girl he vaguely recognized. She had brown hair almost to her waist and brown eyes and a smattering of almost invisible freckles across her nose.

Wakka, sitting three seats over laughed out loud. "What's this, Roxas? Have you broken up with your boyfriend?" Out of the corner of his eyes, Roxas could see Axel slump a bit in his chair. Roxas just glared at Wakka.

"Why? You interested?" he spat. That was enough to make Wakka leave him alone. What a bastard. How could someone be so hateful just because someone else was different? Roxas didn't think he would ever understand it. The blonde knew he wasn't perfect. He had his fair share of people he hated, too. But he had reasons for hating people besides things that were outside of their control. Wakka was just a bigoted asshole.

"All right, everyone!" Mr. Turner called over the class' chatter. "Please get out your books and…"

Roxas jumped slightly when something prodded the side of his hand. He looked down as saw a sheet of paper resting there. His seatmate cast him a sideways glance with a small smile. He took the sheet and read the message scrawled in messy hand across the top.

'_Are you and Axel actually broken up?'_

He stared at it for a long moment before picking up his pen and writing back.

'_Yeah. What's it to you?'_ She smiled and shook her head.

'_I guess it isn't my business. I was just curious.' _All around them, voices picked up again as their classmates started the work.

"Yeah, well," Roxas spoke with a scowl. "Go ahead and spread your gossip."

She shrugged, crumpling the paper into a ball and chucking it in the general direction of the garbage can. She missed. Terribly. In fact, she managed to peg Wakka in the back of the head. Roxas had the vague feeling that she hadn't missed her target at all. Wakka whipped around and glared around the room, Roxas fought not to laugh, and the girl said,

"It's not my business to tell anyone else." Roxas looked at her, furrowing his brow. She was…an interesting one. Not shallow, like most of the people around, and she had a good arm. He held out his hand.

"You're not so bad," he admitted. "I'm Roxas."

"I know that," she answered. "I'm Mizu."

Roxas paused for a second, wondering if he should say anything. Finally he couldn't help it.

"Your name is Mizu?" he asked.

"Says the boy named Roxas," she shot back. "No. Mizu is just a nickname my friends gave me."

He nodded and then asked the inevitable question.

"So…what's your real name?"

She sat back in her chair, crossed her arms over her chest, and grinned at him.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yeah, actually, I would," Roxas nodded.

"Well tough," she answered, winking at him. Roxas let out a surprised laugh and shook his head. They continued to talk throughout the period, bantering on about random things and laughing out loud. Roxas snuck a few glances at Axel every once in a while to see the redhead glaring venomously at Mizu. A little jolt shot through the blonde when he realized that Axel was jealous of her. He snorted.

"What?" Mizu asked, looking at him as if afraid he might be crazy.

"Axel," he explained in a low voice so as not be overheard. "He's been glaring at you all period." She paled slightly, her eyes going wide.

"He's jealous?" Roxas nodded. "So I take it he was the dump-ee?" Again, Roxas nodded. "He's not going to go all Bloody Valentine on me, right?"

Roxas laughed and shook his head. "No, I don't think so. He should know better, really. I don't date girls." She grinned impishly.

"What about him? Does he date girls?" Roxas found that he was the one glaring this time.

"I don't know, ask him," he snapped, turning away.

"I was just kidding. So you're not uninterested in him. You broke up for a different reason. Care to share?" Roxas glared down at the desktop for a long time, trying to ignore how the heat was rising around him. He heard other people mentioning it as well and soon the heat died away. He spared a glance at Axel, who was now determinedly looking anywhere but at Roxas and Mizu. With a minute left until the bell rang, Roxas ripped a sheet of paper out of his notebook and scrawled a message on it.

'_Maybe telling someone with an outside opinion would help. Meet me on the auditorium catwalk in five.' _He slipped it into Mizu's hand and left the classroom.

Axel waited until Roxas left the room before he grabbed the brunette girl's arm. She stopped and looked at him, not seeming too surprised. He gave her his very best glare, but she was unaffected.

"That might be a bit scarier if you didn't look like a kicked puppy," she advised him.

"What were you doing with Roxas this whole time?" he demanded.

"Talking," she shrugged. "It's not illegal, right?"

Axel growled slightly. "Well, you're wasting your time. He's gay. Not into girls, you know." She nodded.

"Just because I talk to someone in class doesn't mean I want to date them. Listen, Axel."

He folded his arms over his chest and pouted slightly, but listened to her.

"I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend. Or, your ex-boyfriend." Seeing his put out look, she waved away the words. "Either way, I'm not trying to steal Roxas from you. In fact, I'm about to go talk to him about what happened between you two and maybe I can convince him that you're worth it. Unless of course, you cheated on him…"

Axel shook his head quickly, mouth gaping in a fish-like fashion.

"Why?" he asked. "Why would you help me out?"

She shrugged with another smile. "I don't know. I guess I just like seeing the two of you together. You're…happy when you're together and that's a rare thing these days. Besides, you're raging against the machine with the whole, 'I date who I want and don't give a shit' vibe. I like that."

Not knowing how to reply to that, Axel stayed quiet.

"I better go or I'll be late meeting Roxas. See you tomorrow, Axel!" She waved and practically skipped out of the room. Still speechless, the redhead grabbed his bag-which Kairi had brought from home for him-and headed out of the classroom. Wishing that he knew where the girl was meeting Roxas, he headed off toward his next class.

Mizu crossed the catwalk six minutes later and plopped down next to Roxas, letting her feet dangle over the edge of the bridge. Roxas sat in the same fashion, staring down over the darkness of the auditorium.

"So why here?" she asked conversationally. "Why up on the catwalk?"

Roxas looked at her face and shrugged with a weak smile. "I've always liked being high up. When I was a kid I used to climb up the fence in my backyard and onto the roof. I've just always liked being high above the ground."

She nodded slowly and leaned back on her hands.

"Do you know why?" she asked idly.

"I guess it's because it makes me feel powerful," he said slowly after a moment of thought. "When I'm high up, no one can touch me."

"That makes sense," she said, swinging her feet back and forth. "I can understand that. Maybe I'll sit up on my own roof more often."

They were quiet for about ten minutes before Roxas started telling her what had happened between him and Axel. When he finished the first story, he started telling her what had happened on Christmas. She listened attentively the whole time, nodding and urging him to continue when he stopped.

"…And…I don't know," Roxas sighed. "I still do really like Axel. I love him, and that isn't something you can just throw away even though I wish I could…"

She shook her head quickly. "You don't mean that, Roxas. You don't want to throw away your love for him. You just want to stop hurting, but pretending that you hate him isn't the way to do it. I agree with you that what he did was wrong, but…well, you're miserable without him. Maybe you should listen to his side of things and talk with him. It couldn't hurt anything and then you can actually make an educated decision. I can tell you want to be with him."

He nodded, too tired to argue with her.

"Yeah, you're right. I do. But I don't know if I can."

"You'll know what to do when the time come," she promised with a small smile. The bell rang overhead and she stood, slipping her bag over her shoulder.

"I've got to go, Roxas. I'll see you tomorrow."

He nodded. "Yeah, all right. Good bye."

He received no answer, for she was already gone.

----------------

A/N: Mizu! I apologize if I mauled what you look like, but that's just how I imagine you. I didn't want to ask because I wanted you to be surprised, so yeah…Hopefully you're not pissed at me for using you without your permission. If you are, a thousand apologies. I can take you out if you want

Everyone else! Thanks a lot for reading; I really appreciate it. Don't be jealous because I used Mizu, because, even if she doesn't know it, she's kinda my muse. Weird stuff because I've never actually met her, but what can ya do? Please review!


	19. Forgiveness

A/N: I'm so very sorry it's taken me so long to update. I had midterms to take and blah-blah-blah. It's that time of year again. Not ot mention I just had to file to return my order from cafepress because my shirts were too big. Near about broke my heart....

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 19

Roxas let out a groan of frustration as he came to a stop outside of the detention room. He'd gotten a detention for skipping class to talk to Mizu. On the first day back at school! He let out an exasperated sigh and entered the room, throwing his bag on the same desk that he'd sat at that first day. Xigbar was sitting behind the desk again, this time shamelessly reading a playboy magazine. Roxas rolled his eyes and sat down, pulling a book out of his bag. He propped his feet up on the desk and started reading as well. Well, he figured that Xigbar was looking at pictures rather then reading, but the sentiment was the same. Sort of. He'd become rather engrossed when the door opened again. He hardly glanced up, curious about who else was there but not really caring all that much. He definitely stopped when he caught that sight of crimson, though.

Surely enough, Axel was standing in the doorway staring at him as if he was God. What was the likeliness? Not very high, but he figured he could manage to ignore the redhead. Things couldn't get any worse, at least. Xigbar closed his magazine. "Right…so there are only two of you today. Okay, you're here, so I'm out. I'll be back at three thirty to let you out. Do whatever you want except committing felonies."

Roxas froze in his seat. He couldn't possibly be serious? How could it be possible that the only two times Roxas had ever gotten detention, he'd been left alone with Axel? Before he could raise a protest, Xigbar was out the door and the lock clicked shut. Roxas was determined to ignore his ex, so he buried his face in his book. It was only when he read the same line thirteen times in a row that he realized he wasn't really paying attention to the book. In fact, every fiber of his being was concentrating on Axel.

Surprisingly enough, Axel managed to wait twenty minutes before he started harassing Roxas.

"Rox…"

"No!" Roxas said loudly. "I really don't want to talk to you. Can't you just leave me alone?"

"No, I can't. Roxas, please, just give me a chance to explain myself. Don't I deserve that, at least?"

"No. I don't owe you anything," Roxas growled petulantly. Axel sighed sadly.

"Yeah, you're right. You don't. But I would hope that you'll have pity on me anyway." Roxas didn't answer him, burying his face in his book again.

How could Axel be such an asshole? How could he do something like that and then just beg for forgiveness? Didn't he know it would take so much more then that? Roxas suddenly had a fleeting memory of the last time Axel had begged Roxas to let him explain. They'd known each other for less then a week and Roxas had decided to forgive Axel because his lie had actually helped their relationship. But this…this wasn't something he could just brush aside. What Axel had done was wrong.

Roxas couldn't deny that he still loved Axel, no matter how much he wished he didn't. He loved him, but Axel had hurt him. He'd had enough hurt and betrayal in his lifetime. He didn't need it from someone who was supposed to love him. At the same time, as he sat there in the same room with the redhead and knew he couldn't touch him, that almost hurt even worse. He thought about what Mizu had said earlier. He suddenly realized that he really wanted to forgive Axel. He wanted to listen to his excuses and accept them. He wanted to be happy. But he was too damn stubborn to admit it out loud. More then anything, though, he wanted to kiss those soft lips and feel that warmth that Axel always provided. He wanted to inhale that scent that was purely Axel and revel in it. He wanted to reclaim the redhead as his. He just wanted to reach out and touch him. So he did.

He just reached out and touched, his fingertips barely skimming the skin on Axel's arm. He wasn't sure why he actually gave into his own compulsions, but when Axel looked at him with those wide, surprised eyes, he thought it was worth it.

"Explain," he said shortly, his voice sounding softer then it had in days. He could see the hope flood through Axel's face.

"Roxas…when my dad came in…I didn't know what to do. My dad, he's always had this measure of control over me, ever since I was a kid. When he came in and accused you, he knew what was really going on, but he wanted to lie to himself. So I lied to appease him. But it wasn't worth losing you. So…after I tried calling you fifty million times, Reno calmed me down a bit and I realized that my only chance was to tell my father."

Roxas' eyebrows went up slowly as he studied Axel's face. Could he really be serious?

"Did you?" Roxas asked slowly.

"I told my dad. I told him everything! He kicked me out and I stayed with Marluxia for two nights but after that I felt kinda like I was intruding. I've been staying in a hotel room ever since then."

Roxas stopped and blinked, raising his eyes to look up into Axel's.

"You…told him?" he asked breathlessly. Axel let out a breath and nodded.

"Yeah. I did. He was pissed. Made me give him my phone, my keys, and my credit cards and then kicked me out."

"Why?"

"Because he's a homophobic asshole…"

"No. Why did you tell him?"

"Because, Roxas. I thought you might forgive me if I did…but more then that, I needed to get out from under my father's control. And I did. I feel so free. The only thing bringing me down now is…pining after you."

They stared at each other for a long time in silence before Axel spoke again.

"I'm so sorry for what I did to you, Rox. I love you and I'm furious with myself. I don't think I can forgive me, so how can I ask you to? But…that's what I'm going to do. Please, please, take me back. Forgive me for being so damn stupid. Please."

Though it sounded like it, he wasn't actually begging. He was asking, but hopeful about it. Even at this point, Roxas knew begging was below him. The fact that he didn't beg was what actually made Roxas' decision for him. The blonde placed his hands on either side of Axel's face, staring him straight in the eyes.

"I love you, Axel, but you can't keep doing this to me. Please. No more lies."

"I promise," Axel spoke. "I was stupid for ever trying." Roxas sighed and closed his eyes, letting a small smile cross over his face. He opened his eyes again and kissed Axel lightly on the lips.

"Then you're forgiven."

Axel kissed him harder and they had a nice little make-up make-out session going on. That is, until things started to escalate. Roxas stopped things at that point, thinking that it was tacky to have sex at school, not to mention the fact that it was so clichéd to have sex right after they made up. He'd give it some time.

Axel stretched out on the bed in his hotel room, grinning to himself. Roxas had forgiven him! He realized now that they'd only been broken up for about three weeks. It had seemed so much longer! He'd had the pathetic urge to cling to the blonde with all his might just so they wouldn't be separated, but he thought he'd controlled himself quite well. Roxas had had a job interview directly after detention, so he'd had to run off. Axel had been a bit put out, but he'd felt a bit better when Roxas kissed him goodbye. If there was one thing to be said about Roxas, it was that he didn't hold on to things. When he decided to forgive someone, he did it all the way. It was almost as if the event hadn't even happened.

He sighed happily and reached over for the room phone. Dialing Reno's number, he listened to the ringing noise a few times. He was just about ready to hang up when Reno answered.

"Yo."

"Hey there, asshole!" Axel greeted into the phone, feeling happier then he had in what seemed like a century.

"Axel!" Reno exclaimed. "I thought you died, I haven't heard from you since Christmas."

"Yeah, sorry. I've been wallowing in self-pity," Axel said. "Listen, Reno, I have news!"

"Eh…can you make it fast? I'm kinda on the job right now. Rude looks about ready to rip my spine out through my neck, if ya know what I mean."

"Reno, Roxas and I are back together!" he crowed excitedly. "We both got detention today and we were the only ones there and I got him to listen to me! Actually, it was kinda weird because he was being all pissy and then all of a sudden he was letting me explain things. He forgave me!"

"Hey, that's awesome. At least now you can be a happy homeless guy."

"Yeah, I know!" Axel grinned. "I feel like singing!" he added teasingly.

Reno hung up on him.

Chortling to himself, Axel set the phone on the hook. He decided to take a short nap, wake up, and call Roxas to see if he'd gotten the job. Settled with this plan, he closed his eyes and slipped into a happy slumber.

Roxas entered his house, singing 'I don't feel like dancing' as he went. As he shut the door behind him, Riku sat up on the couch giving him a weird look. Roxas closed his eyes.

"You have about thirty seconds to get off my brother before I stop pretending that it's not happening," he warned with a grin. He counted to thirty in his head and opened his eyes. Sora and Riku were sitting an acceptable distance away from each other on the couch, the brunet glaring slightly.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" he demanded.

"Axel," Roxas answered simply. Sora cocked an eyebrow, a smile threatening to break through.

"Axel?" he asked.

"Axel," Roxas confirmed. "He told his dad everything and his dad kicked him out. He did that for me, can you believe it?"

"Just this morning you hated Axel…and now you're head over heels in love again?" Riku asked skeptically.

Roxas shrugged. "What can I say, I can't hold a grudge. I love the guy, for god's sake. Anyway, I already promised him I'd kick his ass if he does it again and he feels really bad about it…"

Riku snorted. "Whatever makes you happy, I guess." Sora nodded in agreement.

"I'm just glad everything worked out. I've kinda missed Axel."

"Me too," Roxas agreed. "And guess what else?" he added.

Before either of them could guess, Roxas exclaimed,

"I got a job!"

Sora let out a cheer and Naminé entered the room at that moment, apparently having been listening in from the hallway.

"Oh Roxas, that's great!" she exclaimed. "Where? How much?"

He grimaced slightly, and shrugged. "Just at the library. I'll be putting books away and stuff like that. You know. It only pays minimum wage, but that's better then nothing."

"It definitely is!" Naminé agreed. "Maybe Leon won't have to work as much now."

Sora nodded too, his grin so wide Roxas wondered if his face would split.

"Things are finally looking up," Roxas said.

As he said this, the phone rang. Riku, being the closest, answered it as if it were his house. Which, really, it might as well have been.

"Yeah? Oh, hey. Yeah, yeah, I know. We all do. I suppose some sort of congratulations is in order. Yup. Yeah. Hold on one sec." He held the phone out to Roxas.

"It's your boyfriend." Roxas snatched the phone from his grasp and held it to his ear.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hi," Axel responded. "How'd the interview go?"

"Great!" Roxas continued to tell him about the job.

"That's awesome, Rox. Good for you."

"Hey," Roxas spoke up suddenly, turning away from his siblings. "Where are you right now?"

"Hotel room," Axel said. "I'll explain how I came by the money for it later…"

"Come here," Roxas requested quickly. "Why waste your money when you can just stay with me for free?"

There was a pause on the other end. "I don't want to be a burden, Roxy…"

"You're never a burden, Ax. Damn, Riku's here so much we might as well graft his name into our family tree. Come on over…"

"Well…yeah, all right. Thanks a lot, Roxy."

"No problem. I'll see you when you get here, then?"

"Yeah," he said. "Love you, Roxy."

"Love you, too," Roxas answered before hanging up the phone.

"Ooh," Sora giggled teasingly. "Axel, I loooove you!"

Roxas retaliated by throwing the nearest object (see: the phone) at his head and leaving the room. That'd teach him.

-------------------

A/N: And once again there is peace in the land of love. BUT FOR HOW LONG?!?!?!?!? You might have noticed at this point, but we are almost done around here. I still have a bit of plot idea left, so it's not just gonna be random, I promise. As for the song, "I don't feel like dancing" by the scissor sisters, it's the greatest song ever. I thank paintthesilence for inadvertently introducing me to this magical piece of musical wonder. It's officially my new favorite song and you should all go listen to it RIGHT NOW!


	20. Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead

A/N: Hey....just one more chapter after this. I know, it sucks, right? Oh well...so...I ordered two KH shirts from Cafepress and they're too large. I ordered ones that fit me adn I didn't have to return the old ones, but they are so large, I'll probably never wear them. Anyone interested? PM me if you are...

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 20

Time passed for them rather quickly. Axel managed to find a job and he paid for a third of the rent, not wanting to be a freeloader.

Zexion, along with Demyx, spent a lot of their time at Roxas' house as well, making the tiny abode quite cramped at times.

Leon had met a pretty girl by the name of Rinoa in February and they'd been dating ever since.

Sora and Riku remained very much the same, though instead of spending most of their time together, they officially spent all their time together. Riku's father had gotten even worse over the last few months, so the brothers never went home if they could help it.

Naminé got a scholarship for a drawing program offered by a country club so she was always almost gone, off creating beautiful works of art somewhere.

Strangely enough, Mizu seemed to have disappeared. The very next day, Roxas had been bursting to tell her what had happened, but she hadn't been there. He hadn't seen her again after that.

Roxas himself was content with his life. He liked his job and things had gotten easier ever since Axel had come to live with them. The two had grown infinitely closer and Roxas could swear he loved the redhead more every day. Not that he would ever say that out loud. He had also received a full ride scholarship to Hollow Bastion University, all his hard work having paid off. Axel received a couple scholarships as well, though not a full ride like Roxas. He was hoping that his father hadn't eliminated his college fund and that he might be able to convince his mother to get it to him somehow. He'd saved most of the money in the account his mother had for him, but it wasn't enough to cover four years at HBU.

It was early June, two weeks until graduation, when they received the news. Axel and Roxas were curled together in their bed-they had decided it would just be easier and more preferable to share-for a quick nap before they had to get off to their jobs, Roxas at the library and Axel at a CD store. Roxas had almost slipped into sleep when the door opened and Sora bounded in.

"Axel, there're people here to see you!" he announced. "I think they might be family of yours…"

Axel sat up, looking confused. "Family of mine?" he asked. Axel's father had forbidden any of them to see Axel, and they hadn't, for fear of being kicked out as well. Axel hadn't seen any of his family, except for glimpses of Kairi in school, for nearly six months.

"Yup," Sora answered with a nod. "A redheaded guy and woman. I didn't figure anyone outside your gene pool could manage that color hair." Axel snorted.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll be out in a second, all right?" Roxas propped his head up on his hand and watched his boyfriend silently. Axel's face was unreadable and he chewed on his lip ring, his eyes sweeping all over the place.

"What's wrong, babe?" Roxas finally asked, resting his hand on Axel's. The redhead's larger hand covered Roxas' own and he brought it to his lips, kissing it softly.

"I don't know. I'm nervous, I guess. I haven't even seen _Reno_ in nearly six months. I wonder what they're doing here. Why they would risk my father's wrath to come see me? Something must be really wrong."

"You want me to get the kids out of your hair so you can talk to your family alone?" Roxas asked seriously. Axel shook his head quickly.

"No! Please Roxy, don't leave me alone with them." Roxas nodded quickly.

"All right, I won't. Breathe, Ax. I'm sure it'll be fine." The blonde got to his feet and ran a hand through his mussed spikes. Forcing back a yawn, he offered his hand to Axel and helped him to his feet.

"Come on, we can't leave them waiting forever." Axel nodded a bit petulantly and allowed Roxas to pull him out of the room. Reno and Axel's mother were sitting on the couch. Axel's mom was wearing a pair of jeans and a hoodie that Roxas recognized as one of Axel's. The sleeves were rolled back so that she could use her hands and the bottom almost reached her knees. She looked like a little girl playing dress-up. Her face was free of make-up and her red mane pulled up into a ponytail. She looked tired. Reno was off the couch in a flash, pulling Axel into a huge bear hug as the twins saw each other for the first time in what-Roxas thought-was far too long.

When they separated, Axel sat on the edge of the coffee table and fiddled with the sleeves of his shirt and chewing on his lip ring. The silence seemed to stretch on forever until finally Axel couldn't take it any more.

"Why are you guys here?" he asked. Roxas watched from the edge of the room, feeling strangely like he was intruding in his own house.

"Axel," his mother spoke up, sounding tired and stressed. "I came to ask you to come home."

Axel looked a mix between shocked and confused. "Mom, this is my home. Anyway, I can't just come back. I was kicked out, remember?" She shook her head quickly.

"Ax, you can come back home. As the owner of the house, I'm saying you're welcome whenever you want."

Axel's eyebrows shot up and he stared at his mother.

"What happened?" he asked, leaning forward slightly. "What did I miss?" She looked away for a moment, letting out a deep breath.

"Well…I don't really know how to tell you this, but…well, your father died last night, Axel. He had a heart attack."

There was a moment of complete and total silence. It was so quiet Roxas could have sworn he heard the heartbeats of everyone in the room. Axel stared at his mother as if he was having trouble comprehending what she said. Finally, though, there was a reaction. Axel leapt to his feet and let out a cheer.

"He's dead?" he exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me that first?"

She looked shocked. "Axel…you shouldn't talk that way about your father…"

He rolled his eyes. "Please mom. He's no father of mine. In fact, I'm glad the bastard's dead. Probably the best thing that's ever happened to the world."

"You should have respect…"

"No!" Axel snapped, his eyes blazing. "He was hardly human at all. I'm not going to make him seem like a good person just because he's dead. I hated him in life and I hate him now."

"Hear, hear!" Reno spoke up, pretending to toast his twin. "Mom, Ax has a point. We all hated him while he was alive. Why should we feel bad now and make him seem like he was a better person then he was? He kicked Axel out, for god's sake! He hated us just as much as we hate him." She sighed sadly and nodded.

"I know. Of course you're right. I'm just being silly. I wish that you two felt a little more remorse for him, but I know I can't ask that of you."

Axel nodded. "Damn straight."

There was silence for a long time and Roxas tried to sidle out of the room, but Axel shot him a look that clearly said he'd regret doing that. Reno and Axel's mother seemed to realize, for the first time, that Roxas was in the room. Their eyes both focused on him at the same time.

"Hey, Roxas," Reno greeted with a wave.

"Roxas!" Axel's mother exclaimed with a strange look on her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Ma, he lives here. This is Roxas' house, you know," Axel explained, rolling his eyes. She stood up suddenly.

"Reno, we should be going. Axel, honey, please consider my offer. I know you've built a life for yourself here, but I'd really like it if you'd come home." Axel gave a noncommittal shrug, looking slightly suspicious.

"Yeah, all right. Why do you have to rush off so soon?"

"I just remembered something I had to get done. You know, funeral arrangements…"

Even now, Reno was staring at his mother as if she were crazy. He shrugged helplessly at Axel and twirled his finger next to his head to indicate that his mother was, in fact, a total psycho. It was clearly obvious that something bothered her about Axel living with Roxas. Exactly what it was, Roxas didn't know. They were just making their way to the front door when it opened, Leon coming in from the other side. Everyone stopped and Leon stared at them all for a second, his eyes sweeping over each of their faces. When he got to Axel's mom his jaw dropped. Stoic Leon's jaw quite literally dropped.

"Ariel? Ariel Sinclair," he breathed and then looked at Axel.

"Your mother?" he asked. Axel nodded, glancing at Roxas in confusion. Leon shook his head. "Red hair, name Sinclair…I don't know how I didn't make that connection."

"Hello, Leon," she greeted quietly. "It's nice to see you again. You were only seventeen last time we saw each other…"

"I was eighteen," Leon corrected. "I don't quite know how I feel about seeing you." She looked away and nodded.

"That is completely understandable. I caused you all so much pain, but you must understand, I never meant to hurt anyone."

Axel and Roxas shared a look. What the hell were they on about? When had they met each other? Why was Leon giving Ariel such a dirty look? What did Ariel mean about causing them pain?

"Leon…" Roxas spoke up. "What's going on? How do you know Axel's mom?"

Leon sighed and closed his eyes.

"I didn't want to tell you this, Roxas, but I guess now I have to."

"Didn't want to tell me what?" Roxas demanded, clenching his fists. He already hated that secrets had been kept from him and he didn't even know what the secret was.

"You know how our parents died," Leon said quietly. Roxas nodded. Of course he knew. He'd been right there when it had happened. "What you don't know, is why," Leon said.

"You said…that it was just because dad was drunk…" Roxas said quietly. "You said…"

"I lied, Roxas. I didn't want you to know. I didn't think you were old enough to handle it," Leon explained patiently. Roxas felt like he would be sick and Axel stepped a bit closer to him, almost as if afraid that he would be punished for Leon's words. Quite the opposite, Roxas groped blindly for his hand, never taking his eyes of Leon, waiting for his brother to explain.

"It's her fault that our parents are dead."

------------

A/N: DUN DUN DUN! 0_o oh yeah. I went there. You all thought it was over, but alas, it is not! We've got one more obnoxious problem to solve! Notice I've been dropping hints about the death of the parents but I never mention how they died? THIS IS WHY! Review, please.


	21. The Woes of Ariel Sinclair

A/N: Hey guys. I don't know what was up with me last time I posted, but I claim temporary insanity. Not only did I name the chapter wrong (I gave it the title of this chapter on accident) but I told you that this was the last chapter. Which was a bit of a falsehood. The _next _chapter is the last one. So, sorry about that....

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 21

For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, everything froze. It was an eternity before anyone could speak.

"I…don't understand," Axel said finally. "What's he talking about, mom?"

"Leon?" Roxas said slowly. "What do you mean?"

Ariel sighed and looked at Leon. "Do you want to tell, or should I?" she asked.

"You'd probably know it better then I do," was all Leon said.

She nodded and gestured back to the living room.

"Then you should probably sit down. It's not a long story, but it's bad enough." As if it had been a command rather then a suggestion, they all filed back into the living room. Axel took a seat on the couch, Roxas on his lap to leave room for other people. Leon sat next to Axel and Reno claimed the arm of the couch, looking like he'd quite like to know what the hell was going on as well. Ariel stayed standing in front of them. She opened her mouth to speak, but Roxas cut her off.

"Sorry, but Leon, don't you think Sora and Naminé ought to hear this?" Roxas interrupted. "This concerns them, too." Leon nodded with a sigh.

"Yeah, of course you're right. Sora! Naminé!" A moment later the twins entered the room, Riku trailing behind them. Naminé's eyes widened at the sight of the strangers.

"Come sit down, you two. It's time you learned the truth about what happened to our parents," Roxas said gently.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked with a frown. "We know what happened, we were right there…"

"Just sit down and listen," Leon instructed, voice sounding a bit harsh. The three obediently took a seat on the floor to the right of the couch. Ariel glanced at Roxas for a second as if to ask, 'Is that all?' Roxas gave a slight nod and she started her story.

"I first met Schuyler," Schuyler was Roxas' mother, "in a bar six years ago. It had been a difficult night at home and I just had to get out," she explained. "I went to the first bar I could find, fully intent on getting drunk and forgetting my problems for a while. She was there for the same intent that I was, just sitting at the bar and sipping on whiskey. That was what I really noticed about her. Most of the women there were drinking beer or wine coolers, something of the sort, but she went straight for the hard stuff. I could respect that. I went over to talk to her and soon we were complaining about our husbands, getting friendlier as time went on. As the dawn began to come, I offered to pay her tab. At first she was stubborn about it,"

"Just like someone else I know," Axel murmured, squeezing his arms around Roxas' waist.

"Eventually, though, I got under her skin and she let me pay. We met up a lot after that. Almost three times a week, we would meet somewhere and talk." Ariel wasn't looking at them as she spoke, her eyes glazed over as she walked down memory lane. "We became such good friends…and after a few months, we became more."

"Wait," Axel interrupted. "Wait one god damn second! What do you mean, you became more?" he demanded. She stared at her son and shook her head.

"I would think, out of all people, that you might understand," she said. "What I mean is, we started dating." They were all quiet for a long time trying to process the information. Reno was the one who broke the silence.

"Mom, you're a lesbo?" he gasped. She looked very much like she wanted to hit him, but she just nodded.

"Yes, Reno, if that's the way you want to look at it." The redhead rolled his eyes.

"Damn, am I the only one left that's not gay?"

"Shut the hell up and let the woman talk!" Axel demanded.

Ariel nodded and continued her story. "We snuck around for almost six months before we were first found out. We ran into Leon at a bar and he saw us and called us out on it. For some reason, though, he never told. Even to this day, I still don't know why."

"I didn't want what happened to happen. That's why I never said anything."

She nodded and closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath. "Schuyler and I got too confident in ourselves. About a year after we met, we came to her house so we could…er…get some alone time…" Axel shuddered under Roxas. Even Roxas was a bit disgusted at the thought of his mother having sex. He knew it had to have happened, but that didn't mean he wanted to think about it. "Well…your father walked in on us. We'd stupidly lost track of the time. Schuyler made me leave, even though I really didn't want to. She promised me that we'd meet the next day and we'd leave. We'd been planning it for a long time. We'd just pack up our bags and go. But she never came around the next day and I knew something was wrong. I saw it on the news the next day…and god, I didn't know what to do. I knew that I had ruined their lives, ruined you kids' lives. I…was a coward. I couldn't face you. I just pretended that nothing had ever happened and I slipped back into my old life."

She stopped talking and Roxas wanted to hit something. His mother had been planning on leaving them. He'd always imagined her as some sort of angel, protecting them from their father and then she was wrongfully taken. But she'd been planning to leave. She was going to pack her bags and leave them behind to deal with their father. She hadn't cared about them at all. Knowing the truth, he wished that he had just stayed ignorant. He didn't like that he hated both of his parents and even Axel's mother. It was, in a large way, her fault that Roxas' parents were dead. She hadn't physically killed them herself, but she was the reason behind it. Roxas' father had been angry and betrayed. Sure, he'd been a drunk and an asshole, but who wanted to know that his wife had been cheating on him? Cheating with another woman no less. He knew that his father didn't really deserve his pity, but now he knew his mother didn't deserve it either. His parents had just been all around bad people, hadn't they?

"She…she was going to leave us?" Sora spoke up, looking just as crushed as Roxas felt. "She was just going to leave us with our father? You were going to leave your own kids just so you could be happy?"

Roxas hadn't even taken a moment to consider that Axel had just found out that his mom had been going to leave him as well. He looked up at his boyfriend's face, not surprised to see the cloud of emotions spread across it. He snuggled himself deeper into Axel's arms and took both the redhead's hands in his own, almost cussing at the pure heat they released. It was almost like stepping into a hot bath from the cold air, the kind that burned your toes for the first few minutes. But he didn't want to let go.

"You're a bitch!" Naminé exclaimed. Roxas stared at his sister in shock. He'd never heard her use such language before. "Both you and my mother? How could you just leave your kids behind? How could you be so selfish?"

Ariel looked away. "I have no excuse. I just know what I wanted at that time. I _was_ selfish. I was never fit to be a mother and I know that. I should have done better by my kids, but it's too late for that now. They've all raised themselves without me. I if tried to pull the mother card now…"

"We'd laugh in your face," Axel and Reno intoned in perfect unison. She nodded hopelessly.

"So…there's one thing I want to know," Axel spoke up, prodding Roxas' side and making the blonde squirm. "What happened to your parents, Roxy?" Roxas could feel himself going pale at the thought and his eyes flashed to Naminé and Sora. They both looked a bit stricken as well, though Roxas thought they probably didn't remember as well as he did. Axel seemed to have picked up on this because he shook his head.

"Never mind, it's not important." Roxas shook his head quickly, taking a deep breath.

"No. I should tell you," he said. He glanced at Leon, who nodded and then he took another deep breath.

"You remember how I told you about what happened to the tree in the backyard and my rages, right?" Roxas asked. Axel nodded, looking troubled at the thought. "Well, I inherited that from my father. It was around eight o' clock at night when I heard my parents screaming at each other. The three of us," he gestured to himself and the twins, "were watching TV in the family room. I could tell from my dad's voice that he was in a rage. I grabbed them both and pulled them behind the couch with me, trying to keep them quiet." Sora and Naminé were wide eyed as they listened, obviously having flashbacks just as Roxas was. "I didn't know what to do. I was thirteen and I was panicking, so I just hid us from view when they came busting in. The yelling was so loud and I remember pressing my hands over Sora's and Nami's mouths to keep them from being heard. I knew it wouldn't be good if he found us. I peeked over the top to see what was going on, the entire time praying that they wouldn't look towards us. My dad pulled a gun and he pointed it at my mom. I wanted to run out there and protect her, but I knew I had to stay with the twins. So I just watched. She tried to grab the gun from him and wrestle it from his hands. He was stronger then her, though. He was stronger normally, but he was in a rage and it was just that much worse. I never could figure out why she even tried," he said quietly.

Axel's fingers were digging almost painfully into Roxas' hands as he held them. Both their knuckles had gone white. Roxas almost felt like he could close his eyes, open them, and be back in his old house, hiding behind the couch with his siblings.

"While they were fighting, the gun went off. It scared my mom so badly that she jumped away and let go. My dad took that chance to shoot her in the face. I remember freezing. I couldn't move, I couldn't breath. I could only sit there and watch as she bled and he panted and smiled in his own victory. He could have turned and looked me dead in the eyes and I wouldn't have been able to do a thing about it."

"Eventually, my legs collapsed and I slid down to sit next to the kids. They were so scared, we all were. Not knowing what else to do, we just stayed there. About twenty minutes later, the gun went off again. I dared to look over the edge of the couch. He shot himself as well. I didn't want them to see, so I ripped the edges of the curtains and tied them around their eyes so they wouldn't be tempted. We just stayed there, too numb and shocked to move. The cops showed up nearly an hour later."

Axel, Reno, and Ariel were staring at them in shock.

"I'm so sorry, Roxy," Axel murmured. "You shouldn't have had to deal with that."

Roxas shrugged. "I've gotten over it," he said quietly.

"My parents are dead, but there's nothing else I can do about that."

Ariel shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I had no idea, I really didn't." She then left the house. No one made any move to stop her.


	22. End

Disclaimer, Hitei Suru, negar tener: Whatever language you say it in, I don't own it.

Chapter 22

Roxas let himself into the apartment, hanging his jacket on the hook by the door and tossing his keys on the counter.

"Ax?" he called out. "Babe, are you home?" Receiving no answer, he shrugged and pushed the button on the phone to play back the answering machine messages.

_You have three messages. Beep!_

"Axel, it's your brother. I'm gonna be in Hollow Bastion this weekend and I was thinking we could get together. It's been forever since I saw you last. Anyway, call me back and we'll talk details. _Click!_

_Beep!_

"Roxas, it's Sora! Riku and Naminé are here, too, of course. They say hi…shut up Riku, I'm getting to it…you're a jerk…yeah, I called you a jerk. Shut up! You suck! Oh…right, sorry, Nami. Roxas, we're just calling to remind you that our high school graduation is next Tuesday! TUESDAY! At TEN in the morning. Please, please, PLEASE, don't forget! You'll break our hearts! Axel, make sure he gets up and leaves the house on time, you know how he can be. Oh yeah, Kairi says hi, by the way. Okay, okay, jeez Riku, what's with you today? Bye Roxas! _Click!_

_Beep!_

"Roxas, Axel, its Zexion. _AND DEMYX! _Yes, and Demyx. I know you're probably going to the graduation ceremony next week. We should grab some time to see each other…_BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN SO LONG! AX, I MISS YOU! _Give us a ring when you get the chance. _Click! End of new messages._

Roxas rolled his eyes with a small smile and stopped the machine. Grabbing his school bag, he set off back toward his bedroom. As he crossed through the living room, he noticed that the television was on, but the sound was muted. Frowning, he turned it off. It was then that he noticed his redheaded lover asleep on the couch. His head was propped up against one of the arms and his feet hanging over the edge of the other. He cuddled with a pillow in his arms, his face nuzzled against the top. Roxas smirked and dropped his bag next to the coffee table. He sat on the ground in front of the couch and rested back against the black leather. He started pulling books out of his bag, preparing to write an epic-sized paper for one of his classes.

Three years had passed since that day when he had revealed his parents' deaths to Axel's family. That was the last time anyone had seen Ariel Sinclair alive. She'd washed up on the bank of the river a few days later, having jumped off a bridge to drown herself. Roxas had always wondered if maybe it was his story that finally threw her over the edge, figuratively speaking. Axel hadn't been very devastated at the loss of both of his parents in such a short time. They'd never really been all that close as it was. Axel was pretty psyched to find out that, in the time that he'd been disowned, his father had never gotten around to writing him out of the will. He'd gotten a third of his father's money and property, the sum large enough for Axel to live five lifetimes quite comfortably. Kairi, Reno, and Axel had all agreed to donate their mansion to the city to use as they pleased. It had been turned into an art museum. Axel had bought an upscale apartment in the city of Hollow Bastion, about a twenty-minute walk from the school's campus. When Axel had asked, Roxas agreed to move in with him. It hadn't seemed like such a big deal considering the fact that they were already living together anyway, but Roxas had come to realize that it was a lot different when it was just the two of them. It seemed more intimate and in a lot of ways, it was. Nevertheless, Roxas loved it.

Kairi and Reno had bought an apartment to share in Twilight Town until Kairi was old enough to be on her own. The two got along pretty well, though there was always the sibling bickering. Axel paid for a house in full in the middle class area of Twilight Town, one in which he signed the deed in Leon's name. The redhead had gotten used to spending money on people under conditions in which they couldn't refuse it. He bought the house as a wedding gift for Leon and Rinoa. The two had gotten married about a year after they met and their house was known as 'The Orphanage' in their neighborhood. Riku practically lived there, along with Sora and Naminé. Demyx and Zexion were always dropping in, along with any friend anyone in the family had, just as it had been when Roxas had lived there.

Sora and Riku had both applied for and been accepted to the University of Destiny Islands, all the way across the country from Twilight Town. Naminé had been accepted into the Art Institute of Hollow Bastion and was required to live in the dorms during her freshman year, though she knew she was always welcome around Roxas and Axel's place.

Demyx and Zexion had gotten an apartment together in Ne'erwas, a small city about twenty miles from Twilight Town. They were happy together and often dropped by, though Roxas hadn't seen his best friend in a long time.

Roxas was majoring in psychiatry, determined to open an office that was for those kids who'd been like himself. Deeply troubled from events in their lives, but unable to pay for proper treatment. He wanted to make sure they got the individual attention they needed. Roxas had handled things all right by himself, but he knew a lot of people couldn't.

Axel was a double major in chemistry and teaching. He wanted to be a chemistry professor. Roxas was a bit worried about that, knowing his boyfriend's love for blowing things up, but he figured the redhead could be professional enough if his job was at stake.

They spent much of their time together, though they were sure to get their own alone time. Axel's main point of alone time was visiting church on Sunday mornings. He was usually back already by the time Roxas woke up, but he never stopped asking every Saturday night for Roxas to come. So far, Roxas had refused every time.

Their lives had changed so much since that day they first spoke in detention. Most of it had been for the better, some of it for the worse, but they both knew they would never change anything, if given the chance.

Roxas almost jumped out of his skin as he was pulled from his thoughts by a pair of lips softly kissing his neck. He turned his head to place a quick kiss on Axel's lips.

"Hey there," he greeted with a grin. "You were so tired you couldn't make it to the bedroom?" Axel yawned and ruffled a hand through his hair.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep. I'm so beat, though, I feel like I could just nod off again right now."

Roxas shrugged. "Go to bed, then. Getting a couple more hours of sleep definitely couldn't do you any harm."

Axel shrugged noncommittally. "Come with me," he requested.

Though the thought wasn't a bad one, Roxas grimaced and shook his head.

"I can't. I've got this paper I need to write…"

"You can do it tomorrow!" Axel wheedled. "Come on, Roxy, come lay down with me for a while. I don't sleep half as well when you aren't next to me."

Roxas let out a sigh, making it sound more annoyed then he actually felt. He got up, leaving his books spread across the coffee table and offered a hand to Axel.

"All right, come on."

Axel grinned and pulled himself up by the offered hand. If there was one thing that hadn't changed over time, it was how much Roxas loved falling asleep and waking up next to the redhead. The warmth of his arms and that utterly Axel scent, seeing those green eyes first thing in the morning…that, to Roxas, was the best feeling in the world. He planned to hang on to that forever.

Detention. The word in and of itself creates different reactions amongst everyday people. It made Roxas Leonhart smile, because getting detention had been the best thing that had ever happened to him.

------------------

A/N: Now it's really over. I promise. Jeez, Axel's gonna be the worst professor ever, convincing Roxas to ignore his homework. What a bad boy!


End file.
